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The  Chemical  National  Bank 


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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
Introductory xi 

PART  I 

THE     CHEMICAL    BANK    AND     EVENTS    IN    AMERICAN 

HISTORY 

CHAPTER  pAGE 

I.     Broadway  and   Its   Bankers  Ninety 

Years  Ago 3 

II.     John  Mason  —  The  Bank  Guaranty 

Law  14 

III.  The   Financial   Storm  of   1837.     All 

Specie  Payments  Suspended  .        23 

IV.  Winding  Up  the  Chemical  Manufac- 

turing Company  ....        27 

V.     The  New  Stockholders  and  the  New 

President,  John  Q.  Jones  .      .        33 

VI.     The  First  Dividend 38 

VII.     "Old  Bullion"  in  the  Panic  of  '57     .  44 
VIII.     Dispute  With  the  Clearing  House — 

The  Civil  War         53 

IX.     Hundred  Per  Cent.  Dividends  Through 

the  Panic  of  '73 59 

X.     A    Quarter    Century    of    Prosperity 

UnderGeorge  G.Williams,  President     65 

V 


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CONTENTS 
PART  II 

MEN    OF    THE    CHEMICAL    BANK 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     John  Mason 77 

II.     John  Quentin  Jones 87 

III.     George  G.  Williams  —  The  Goelets  — 

Roosevelts  —  and  Others        ...  93 


PART  III 

surroundings    and    origin    of    the    chemical 

bank 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     New  York  in  1824 117 

II.     The    Chemical    Manufacturing   Com- 
pany   136 

III.  The  Bank's  First  Home  —  216  Broad- 

way        145 

IV.  The  Second  Home  —  270  Broadway    .     152 


VI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
City  Hall  Park — 1842        ....         Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

His  Honor,  William  Paulding 3 

Certificate    of    Stock    of    New    York    Chemical 

Mfg.  Co (in  text)  6 

Balthazar  P.  Melick 7 

John  C.  Morrison 9 

216  Broadway,  from  Steeple  of  St.  Paul's  Church  10 

Barnum's  Museum  and  Genin's  Hat  store — 1857  10 

Chemical  Bank  Notes 14 

Banking  House  of  Chemical  Mfg.  Co.  —  1824.  24 

Chemical  Bank  Checks 26 

Philip  Hone 28 

Chemical  Bank  Notes 36 

National  Park  Bank  and  Herald  Building  —  216- 

220  Broadway — 1868 42 

270  Broadway  —  1851 42 

Clearing  Room  at  the  Wall  and  William  Streets 

Building  as  Depicted  in   1858 46 

Bills  of  Other  Banks 50 

Chemical  Bank  —  270  Broadway        ....  56 

Carved  Pediment  on  the  Railing  in  the  Old  Bank  70 

Old-time  Lock 70 

vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Strong  Box  of  1850 72 

Old-time  Padlock 72 

John  Mason         77 

Chemical  Bank  Checks 78 

Chemical  Bank  Certificate  of  Deposit     ...  82 

Coat  of  Arms  of  New  York  State  of  1830.      .  82 

John  Quentin  Jones 87 

Middle  Dutch  Church 90 

Quill  Pen  Used  by  J.  Q.  Jones 90 

George  G.  Williams 93 

New  York  Clearing  House 96 

Residence  of  Peter  Goelet,  Corner  of  Broadway 

and  19th  Street (in  text)  102 

Mansion  House  —  39  Broadway 106 

Astor  House         106 

Fly  Market  —  Front  Street  and  Maiden  Lane. 
Business    Locality    of    Some    of    the    Bank's 

Depositors 118 

New  York  Hospital 118 

Swiftsure  Transportation  Line       .      .     (in  text)  123 

Contoit's  Garden  —  1830          130 

Broadway  and  Grand  Street — 1840.      .      .      .  130 

View    of    Chemical    Mfg.    Co.'s    Works,    30th 

Street  and  Tenth  Avenue,  from  Hoboken     .      .  134 

Farm  House  of  Rapelje  Property,  Afterward  Fac- 
tory of  Chemical  Mfg.  Co 138 

Map  of  New  York  Chemical  Mfg.   Co's  Prop- 
erty, 30th  Street  and  10th  Avenue      .      .      .  138 


vm 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING   PAGE 

Barnum's  Museum — i860 146 

270  Broadway — 1848 150 

Residence  of  A.  T.  Stewart 150 

Chemical  National  Bank — 1896        .      .      .      .  154 

Main  Entrance  of  Present  Building  .      .      .      .  156 

View  from  Chambers  Street "  156 

The  Lobby 158 

Banking  Room 158 

Vault  of  Present  Building 158 

Clock    Originally     in     Possession    of    Chemical 

Mfg.  Co 160 


IX 


INTRODUCTORY 

Not  only  to  those  who  turn  the  wheels  of  finance, 
but  to  all  students  of  American  business  and 
growth,  the  words  "Chemical  Bank"  call  to  mind 
a  contrast  both  curious  and  instructive. 

Compare  the  associations  the  name  brings  to 
us  to-day  with  the  very  difTerent  impressions  of 
the  worthy  New  York  newspaper  readers  who  came 
across  this  item  in  The  Gazette  and  other  dailies 
of  July  30,  1824: 

The  New  York  Chemical  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany will  open  their  office  of  Discount  and  De- 
posit at  No.  216  Broadway,  opposite  St.  Paul's 
Church,  on  Monday,  the  2nd  of  August.  The 
Bank  will  be  open  daily  (Sundays  and  holidays 
excepted)  from  9  o'clock  A.  M.  until  3  o'clock 
P.  M.  The  Board  of  Directors  will  meet  on 
Wednesdays  and  Saturdays  and  a  Committee  will 
attend  daily  for  making  discounts. 

By  order  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

William  Stebbins,  Cashier. 

A  bank  on  Broadway!  There  was  much  shak- 
ing of  heads  among  the  men  of  "Wall  Street," 
then  as  now  the  central  region  of  American  finance. 
Nine  of  the  twelve  existing  banks  did  business  in 
Wall  Street,  the  rest  near  by.     It  was  felt  that  the 


Xl 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  NATIONAL  BANK 

Chemical  was  going  too  far  uptown.  Why,  it 
was  opposite  "The  Park"  (as  the  City  Hall  grounds 
were  then  known).  And  only  six  blocks  above, 
at  Worth  Street,  came  the  lawns  of  the  New  York 
City  Hospital,  where,  as  every  well-informed 
business  man  was  aware,  Broadway  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes  ended. 

So  much  for  the  limitations  of  human  foresight. 
To-day,  everybody  knows  that  there  are  sixty- 
five  banking  houses  on  Broadway,  that  the  north- 
ernmost of  them  is  eight  miles  above  the  City 
Hall,  and  that  the  stock  of  the  Chemical,  ever 
since  1895,  when  it  sold  £t  #4,900  a  share,  has  held 
the  record  as  the  highest  priced  stock  of  any  large 
financial  institution  in  the  world. 

As  for  the  general  public,  they  felt  toward  the 
Chemical  in  1824  the  opposition  to  any  and  all 
banks  common  at  that  time.  This  prejudice  was 
of  a  piece  with  the  popular  hostility  at  many  times 
and  places  to  any  radically  new  form  of  labor- 
saving  machinery,  and  that,  of  course,  is  all  a 
bank  is  or  ought  to  be 

On  the  following  page  is  quoted  an  extract  to 
show  that  the  Chemical  Bank,  even  in  its  earliest 
days,  and  on  the  comparatively  insignificant  scale 
of  those  times,  was  of  service  to  the  community  in 
precisely  the  fields  which  at  present  identify  it  — 
the  furthering  not  of  speculation  but  of  commerce; 
the  furnishing  of  assistance,  not  to  the  promoter 
and  the  so-called  "financier,"  but  to  the  individual 
merchant  and  business  man: 

xii 


INTRODUCTORY 

He  (John  Mason)  understood  that  mechanics 
needed  money  as  much  when  it  was  scarce  as 
when  it  was  plenty.  Often  have  I  known  him  to 
discount,  as  president  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  for 
merchants  in  distress,  at  7  per  cent.,  when  he 
deemed  it  almost  certain  that  he  would  be  obliged 
to  use  his  own  private  securities  to  raise  money 
to  sustain  his  bank. 

Rich  as  Mr.  Mason  was,  his  heart  was  bigger 
than  his  purse.  There  was  no  pleasure  in  him 
greater  than  to  have  a  respectable  mechanic 
come  to  him  at  a  late  hour  who  had  fifty  men  to 
pay  and  knew  not  where  to  raise  the  money,  which 
was  worth,  perhaps,  2  per  cent,  a  month.  Mr. 
Mason  delighted  to  take  such  a  man  by  the  hand 
and  would  kindly  say,  "My  good  man,  you  must 
have  the  money,"  and  give  it  to  him  at  the  legal 
rate. —  From  New  York  Evening  Post  of  1859. 

It  whets  the  appetite  of  a  lover  of  American  his- 
tory to  come  across  such  reminiscences  of  public 
servants,  men  who  gave  to  a  profession  more  than 
they  got  out  of  it.  There  is  much  personal  detail 
of  this  inspiring  sort  in  Part  II  of  this  volume 
—  "Men  of  the  Chemical  Bank"  —  and  it  is  of 
great  interest  to  others  than  students  of  New  York 
genealogy. 

There  are  broader  aspects,  however,  of  even 
wider  interest,  in  which  the  Bank  appears,  not  as 
a  personal  possession  or  a  local  enterprise,  but  as 
an  American  institution.  With  such  of  its  prin- 
ciples and  its  methods  as  belong  to  the  nation, 
Part  I  —  "The  Chemical  Bank  and  Events  in 
American  History"  —  is  concerned. 

xiii 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  NATIONAL  BANK 

Not  only  every  American  commercial  banker 
and  every  stockholder  and  depositor  in  his  bank, 
but  also  every  reader  who  shares  in  the  benefits 
of  the  very  complex  business  structure  of  to-day, 
can  trace  in  the  first  pages  of  this  volume  a  lumi- 
nous example  of  the  business  of  businesses,  can  feel 
and  analyze  the  throbbing  of  the  heart  whence 
run  the  arteries  of  every  legitimate  industry  and 
enterprise. 

The  scenes  of  other  days,  so  quaint  in  retro- 
spect, amid  which  the  Bank's  founders  lived  and 
worked,  are  described  in  detail  in  Part  III  — 
"Surroundings  and  Origin  of  the  Chemical  Bank." 

Editor. 


XIV 


PART  I 

THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  AND   EVENTS  IN 
AMERICAN  HISTORY 


HIS  HONOR  WILLIAM  PAULDING 


CHAPTER  I 

BROADWAY    AND    ITS    BANKERS    NINETY 
YEARS    AGO 

When  the  first  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  was  com- 
modore of  "the  elegant  new  steamboat  Thistle"; 
when  the  first  John  Jacob  Astor  resided  in  one  of 
the  fine  New  York  City  homes  where  to-day  stands 
the  ancient  Astor  House;  when  the  Mayor  of  the 
city  was  His  Honor  William  Paulding,  nephew  to 
that  John  Paulding  who,  with  two  other  patriotic 
militiamen,  had  captured  the  ill-fated  Andre  only 
forty-four  years  before;  when  a  foreign  visitor  to 
New  York  City,  walking  to  the  post-office  one  even- 
ing, found  the  street  lamps  unlighted  "because  the 
moon  is  in  the  first  quarter  and  expected  to  shine"; 
when  the  trip  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  by 
steamboat  and  stage,  had  been  so  expedited  that 
one  could  accomplish  it  in  a  single  day;  when  the 
foreign  mail  sometimes  arrived  only  six  weeks 
after  its  dispatch  from  London;  when  daring 
real  estate  speculators  prophesied  that  Broad- 
way would  some  day  be  built  up  as  far  as  Tenth 
Street — in  the  year  1824,  when  the  nation, 
its  great  men  and  institutions,  were  still  young, 
there    appeared,    on    April     15th,    the    following 

3 


4  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHEMICAL  BANK 

small     notice    in     the     New    York     Commercial 
Advertiser: 

You  will  find  the  Legislature  have  at  last  given 
you  another  batch  of  banks.  The  Chemical  and 
the  Fulton  Bank  bills  and  the  Long  Island  Bank 
bill  received  their  final  passage  in  the  Senate  on 
Thursday.  The  following  was  the  state  of  the 
vote  —  Fulton,  23  to  8;  Chemical,  22  to  8;  Long 
Island,  26  to  4. 

Some  bitterness  is  perceptible  in  this  dispatch 
from  the  newspaper's  Albany  correspondent.  In- 
deed, it  was  by  no  means  a  mere  formality  to  get  a 
charter  out  of  the  New  York  (or  any  other) 
Legislature  in  1824.  People  were  as  suspicious  of 
banks  then  as  they  are  of  the  so-called  "trusts" 
now.  The  bank  was  held  to  be  a  cold,  "soulless" 
machine,  thrusting  itself  between  debtor  and 
creditor,  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  former 
pleasant   personal    relations. 

There  were  no  banks  at  all  in  the  Colonies  until 
the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  brought 
sudden  growth  to  the  flour  exporters  and  ship- 
builders around  Philadelphia. 

The  first  bank  in  New  York  City  had  taken 
seven  years  to  get  its  charter.  In  the  interval  it 
had  done  business  without  one.  Even  the  bril- 
liant, popular,  and  influential  Aaron  Burr  had 
found  himself,  in  order  to  get  a  bank  charter, 
driven  to  take  advantage  of  a  yellow-fever  scare. 
He  rushed  a  bill  through  the  Legislature  provid- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CHEMICAL  BANK  5 

ing  for  a  water  company,  and  not  until  later  was  it 
discovered  that  the  bill  contained  a  paragraph 
conferring  banking  privileges. 

A  prominent  New  York  Senator,  Cadwalader 
D.  Colden,  afterward  Mayor  of  the  city,  went  so 
far  as  to  declare  in  Albany  that,  unless  some  stop 
were  put  to  the  progress  of  banking,  he  believed 
desolation  would  be  spread  over  the  country! 

So  the  founders  of  the  Chemical  Bank  had  been 
at  some  trouble  to  insert  their  entering  wedge. 
On  February  24,  1823,  they  had  obtained  incor- 
poration at  Albany  for  twenty-one  years,  for 
"The  New  York  Chemical  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany." Its  charter  stipulated  that  the  company 
"shall  not  engage  in  any  banking  business  or 
transaction,  excepting  such  as  may  be  proper  and 
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  declared  objects 
of  this  act." 

What  would  have  been  the  reflections  of  the 
legislators  who  insisted  on  that  prohibition  if  they 
could  have  foreseen  that  within  the  lifetime  of 
their  own  grandchildren  the  Chemical  Company 
as  a  banking  institution  would  have  had  such  a 
phenomenal  growth  as  to  become  the  safe  and  sure 
custodian  of  the  stupendous  sum  of  #30,000,000 
in  deposits  yearly? 

Even  after  April  1st  of  the  next  year,  when  the 
old  charter  was  amended  so  that  the  directors 
(seven)  could  do  a  general  banking  business 
"and  purchase  and  hold  real  estate  necessary  for 
the  transaction  of  its  business,"  it  was  stipulated 


6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

that  at  least  #100,000  of  the  $500,000  capital,  in 
shares  of  #25  each,  must  be  employed  in  the 
manufacture    of    chemicals.     Thus    we    find    the 


JVew-'Vovk  C\vem\ca\  M&nufoctuving  Company. 


This  is  to  Certify,   S/iat  (^^c/ztw/1 

cd  Ike  hrohrtetor  of  c/J*"&7^£<A 


zMared  in  t/ie  ^a/UtaJ  <zftoc/i  of  t/ie    N(3>V-York  CliemicaF^ 

Manufacturing  Company,  trandferatle^on  tL  680&1L  <^ 

their-  Cvannina  tSUoude  ontu,  /«  /%*?**     <w< .  /t<c/         ^/bitogwu  o» 


V 


deuveru  of  tntd   Get^ttpcate.  V^ 


■is   \ 


CERTIFICATE  OF  STOCK  OF  NEW  YORK  CHEMICAL  MFG.  CO. 

chemical  enterprise  launched  in  the  company's 
first  business  advertisement,  in  the  daily  papers  of 
May  24th,  which  began  as  follows,  above  an  ex- 
tensive list  of  products: 

Chemicals  manufactured  at  the  New  York 
Chemical  Manufactory,  warranted  superior  in 
quality  to  those  usually  imported,  are  offered  for 
sale  in  lots  to  suit  purchasers. 

The  excellence  of  these  products  is  attested 
by  this  contemporary  report  of  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  New  York: 

"This  Committee  are  happy  to  add  by  their  testimony  to  the 
commendations  bestowed  by  a  similar  committee  at  the  last  session 
of  the  society,  and  the  Committee  are  ready  to  declare  that  the 
drugs    are   decidedly    superior   to   similar   articles   imported   from 


BALTHAZAR  P.  MELICK 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  7 

abroad;  the  Committee  cannot  close  their  remarks  without  sug- 
gesting how  worthy  such  an  establishment  is  of  public  patronage. 

"D.  R.  Beck, 
"Lawrence  Hull, 
"Dan'l  Ayres." 

It  was  not  until  1832  that  the  trustees  trans- 
ferred their  main  energies  from  the  manufactur- 
ing of  drugs  (first  in  Greenwich  Village,  then  as 
far  uptown  as  the  present  Thirty-fourth  Street)  to 
the  work  of  exclusively  establishing  the  credit 
and  stability  of  their  banking  house  on  Broadway. 

Even  with  the  full  banking  charter  of  April  I, 
1824,  however,  the  managers  of  the  Chemical 
found  no  easy  path  before  them.  Instead  of  a 
city  of  nearly  five  million  people,  there  was  a 
town  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand, 
to  serve  which  there  were  already  in  existence 
twelve  other  banks,  as  follows : 


BANK 

PLACE   OF   BUSINESS 

INCORPORATE! 

)                CAPITAL 

Bank  of  New  York 

32  Wall  Street 

1791 

$1,000,000 

Manhattan  Company 

23  Wall  Street 

1799 

2,000,000 

Merchants'  Bank 

25  Wall  Street 

I  80S 

1,490,000 

Mechanics'  Bank 

16  Wall  Street 

l8lO 

2,000,000 

Union  Bank 

17  Wall  Street 

l8ll 

1,000,000 

Bank  of  America 

30  Wall  Street 

l8l2 

2,000,000 

City  Bank 

38  Wall  Street 

l8l2 

1,250,000 

Phenix  Bank 

24  Wall  Street 

I8I2 

500,000 

Branch  Bank  of  U.  S. 

15  Wall  Street 

I8l6 

2,500,000 

Franklin  Bank 

I  Franklin  Square 

I8l8 

500,000 

North  River  Bank 

186  Greenwich  Street 

I82I 

500,000 

Tradesmen's  Bank 

177  Chatham  Street 

1823 

600,000 

The  first  president  of  the  Bank  was  Balthazar 
P.  Melick.     Thus   ran  the  original  paper  signed 


8  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

by  him  August  6,   1824,  and  attested  by  W.  A. 
Seely,  the  Bank's  notary  and  lawyer: 

I,  Balthazar  P.  Melick,  do  swear  that  I  will, 
to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  ability,  in  all 
things  faithfully  and  truly  execute  and  perform 
the  duties  assigned  to  and  trust  reposed  in  me  as 
President  of  the  New  York  Chemical  Manufactur- 
ing Co. 

"Baltus"  P.  Melick,  as  he  was  less  ponderously 
known,  was  a  prosperous  wholesale  grocer  of  old 
Greenwich  Village.  He  was  a  man  of  influence,  a 
director  in  the  Equitable  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
the  Greenwich  Insurance  Company,  and  the 
Union  Marine  and  Life  Insurance  Company. 
His  name  first  appears  in  the  city  directory  for 
J795>  where,  as  Baltus  P.  Melick,  he  is  described 
as  a  grocer  at  183  Washington  Street. 

That  the  president  in  his  earlier  years  had  not 
been  above  entering  into  the  amusements  of  the 
community  is  shown  by  his  prominence  in  the 
musical  and  social  club  known  as  the  Black  Friars 
Society.  The  following  notice  appeared  in  the 
daily  papers  of  November  20,  1798: 

Black  Friars  Society  —  A  regular  meeting  of 
the  Society  will  be  held  this  evening  at  the  Friary, 
where  the  attendance  of  the  members  is  particu- 
larly requested  on  business  of  importance.  By 
order  of  the  Father.      B.  P.  Melick,  Secretary. 

The  Chemical's  first  cashier,  William  Stebbins, 


JOHiN  C  MORRISON 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  9 

who  had  been  teller  of  the  North  River  Bank, 
where  his  brother  John  was  cashier,  resigned 
October  11,  1828,  to  accept  the  position  of  as- 
sistant cashier.  The  position  of  cashier  was  then 
held  by  Alanson  Douglas  up  to  1830,  when  Archi- 
bald Craig,  who  had  been  connected  with  the 
Bank  from  its  start  and  had  been  thoroughly 
trained  in  the  methods  which  the  directors  favored, 
succeeded  to  the  position. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  John  B.  Desdoity,  who 
was  to  become  one  of  the  Bank's  most  faithful 
servants,  entered  its  employ  as  bookkeeper,  and  in 
1 83 1  B.  P.  Melick  resigned  the  office  of  president. 

LIST   OF   FIRST   DIRECTORS,    1824 

Balthazar  P.  Melick,  President 
John  C.  Morrison 
Mark  Spencer 
Gerardus  Post 
James  Jenkins 

William  A.  Seely,  Notary  Public 

William   Stebbins,  Cashier  of  the  Bank  and  agent  of  the  Manu- 
facturing Company. 

Just  what  it  means  to  say  that  the  new  institu- 
tion attacked  its  problems  with  conservatism  ap- 
pears from  the  salaries  it  paid  its  officers  and  the 
house  in  which  it  did  business,  and  for  which  it 
paid  an  annual  rental  of  #1,200. 

Even  five  years  later,  while  the  Bank's  stock 
was  selling  well  above  par  and  its  business  seemed 
well  established,  only  two  of  its  officers  received 
more    than    #1,000.     The    cashier    received    the 


io  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

munificent  sum  of  $1,500,  besides  the  upper 
room  of  the  Bank  for  living  quarters.  This  cus- 
tom of  sleeping  above  one's  office  was  followed  by 
many  of  the  oldest  and  most  prosperous  New 
York  merchants;  and  it  was  thought  especially 
fitting  for  the  cashier  of  a  bank  to  do  so,  as  he 
could  thus  personally,  by  night  as  well  as  by  day, 
contribute  to  the  safety  of  his  institution. 

As  for  the  bank  building— an  unpretentious  two- 
story  dwelling  house  of  red  brick  brought  from 
Holland  —  it  is  an  amusing  illustration  of  con- 
ditions on  Broadway  in  1824  to  read  a  "covenant" 
still  in  the  Bank's  possession,  entered  into  with  its 
next  door  neighbor,  Nicholas  Haight,  one  of  a 
large  family  of  prominent  and  respected  mer- 
chants, who  lived  at  218  and  paid  a  rental  of 
$560  per  annum.  He  agrees  in  this  covenant, 
for  the  sum  of  $1.00,  to  allow  the  bank  officers 
"  peaceable  and  quiet  use  of  an  alley  intervening 
between  the  two  houses,  which,  for  greater  con- 
venience, has  been  converted  into  a  private  hall." 
This  agreement  remained  in  force  until  the  Bank 
moved,  twenty-six  years  later. 

One  step  up  from  the  Broadway  sidewalk 
brought  one  into  the  counting  office.  Behind  this 
was  the  directors'  room,  where,  for  twenty-six 
years,  some  of  the  keenest  and  strongest  financial 
minds  the  metropolis  has  ever  known  met  and 
consulted.  Yet  to  our  eyes  the  room  must  have 
shown  a  curious  lack  of  the  imposing  magnifi- 
cence   that   we    associate   with    modern    banking 


WJm 

216  BROADWW.  FROM  STEEPLE  OF  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH 


BARNUM'S  MUSEUM  AND  GENIN'S  HAT  STORK 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  u 

quarters.  How  it  impressed  a  visitor  in  1849 
is  told  in  a  reminiscence  of  Jacob  C.  Parsons, 
who  was  about  to  enter  the  service  of  the  Bank 
as  receiving  teller.     He  says: 

The  directors'  room  was  in  the  rear,  small  and 
with  a  window  on  the  side  protected  by  iron  bars, 
affording  but  a  scant  supply  of  light.  In  the 
middle  stood  a  table,  at  the  end  of  which,  in  a 
high  back  chair,  sat  Mr.  Desdoity,  the  cashier, 
short  and  stout,  of  a  florid  complexion,  with  wide 
shirt  collar  and  a  silk  handkerchief  loosely  tied 
around  his  neck,  his  wig  disarranged,  as  he  had 
probably  been  taking  a  nap.  After  we  had  ex- 
changed a  few  remarks  in  relation  to  banking 
business  and  the  position  I  had  filled,  he  seemed  to 
be  satisfied  and  inquired  how  soon  I  could  com- 
mence work.  When  I  informed  him  I  was  going 
to  be  married,  and  had  arranged  to  take  a  short 
trip,  being  an  old  bachelor,  he  gazed  at  me  for  a 
few  moments  with  an  expression  of  deep  com- 
miseration. When  he  recovered  from  the  shock, 
he  proposed,  as  they  were  hard  pressed,  that  I 
take  two  or  three  days.  My  reply  was:  "I 
shall  be  married  on  the  time  appointed;  the  morn- 
ing after  I  shall  be  here  at  8:30."  He  laughed  and 
said:     "Well,  you  mean  business." 

I  had  yet  to  learn  that  the  men  who  gathered 
daily  in  that  back  room  for  a  consultation  were 
devoting  their  time  and  energies  to  the  building 
up  on  the  foundation  of  public  confidence  one  of 
the  greatest  financial  institutions  of  the  country. 

From  the  very  beginning  the  dingy  "back  room" 
furnished   a   meeting  place   for   men   with   names 


12 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


identified  then  and  since  with  important  move- 
ments in  American  commerce  and  history. 

James  Fenimore  Cooper  was  one  of  the  early 
stockholders.  The  Bank  still  treasures  a  power 
of  attorney  which  he  signed  in  1835  authorizing 
Gorham  A.  Worth  to  receive  all  dividends  on  his 
stock. 

Robert  Lenox,  active  in  the  Chemical's  found- 
ing and  one  of  its  largest  stockholders,  was  a 
financial  magnate  of  the  time.  He  was  one  of  the 
only  two  men  in  New  York  credited  with  fortunes 
of  more  than  a  million  dollars,  the  other  being 
John  Jacob  Astor.* 

Indeed,  personal  and  daily  intimacy  with  the 
Bank's  affairs  can  be  traced  to  many  of  its  ear- 
liest advisers,  stockholders,  and  depositors,  among 
whom  were: 


Benjamin  Field 
David  Embury 
Henry  Remsen 
John  Rutherford 
Chancellor  James  Kent 
James  W.  Bleecker 
W.  C.  McCoun 
Daniel  Embury 
Thomas  C.  Chew 
James  H.  Hackett 
Nicholas  Ludlam 
Alexander  Hutton 
John  M.  Aspinwall 
Phillips  Phoenix 
Thomas  Lippincott 


Philip  Embury 

Wm.  Lewis  Morris 

James  H.  Suydam 

John  Anderson 

Thomas  A.   Emmett  (Master    in 

Chancery) 
T.  T.  Woodruff. 
Gideon  Tucker 
William  Jay 
Thomas  W.  Thorne 
H.  D.  Field 
Jos.  W.  Hamersley 
Japhet  Bishop 
Dominick  Lynch 
Wm.  R.  Gracie 


•From  a  pamphlet  of  1842  prepared  by  Moses  Y.  Beach,  the  successful  publisher  of  the 
New  York  Sun  during  its  early  days. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


13 


William  Kent 
Robert  Lenox 
Daniel  Lord 
.  James  DePeyster 
Wm.  B.  Astor 
Leonard  Bleecker 
George  Bruce 

GlRARD    BEEKMAN 

Henry  I.  Cammann 
David  Dudley  Field 


John  W.  Hamersley 
David  Hosack 
John  T.  Irving 
Isaac  Kip 

Peter  W.  Livingston 
Nathaniel  Prime 
Peter  Schermerhorn 
Wm.  E.  Wilmerding 
Edward  Whitehouse 


Statement  of  the  funds  and  property  of  the  New 
York  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company,  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1829: 

Chemical  manufactory #100,000  00 

Bills  receivable 688,922  64 

Banking  house,  plates,  etc 9>499  74 

Due  from  banks,  including  their  bills  on  hand        .  103,877  27 

Specie 20,094  47 

$922,394  12 

Capital  stock $500,000  00 

Surplus  fund 4)°74  68 

Bills  in  circulation 155,164  00 

Due  other  banks 5°>463  21 

Deposits  including  dividends  unpaid 212,692  23 

$922,394  12 


CHAPTER  II 

JOHN  MASON  THE  BANK  GUARANTY  LAW 

If  credit  can  be  given  to  any  one  man  more 
than  another  for  laying  the  unshaken  found- 
ations of  the  Chemical  Bank,  it  is  due  to 
John  Mason,  who  was  elected  president  upon  the 
retirement  of  Balthazar  P.  Melick.  While  not 
connected  with  the  Bank's  organization,  he  be- 
came a  stockholder  in  1826  and  virtually  con- 
trolled its  destiny,  as  a  director  and  as  president, 
from  1 83 1  until  his  death,  September  29,  1839. 

Although  he  had  begun  life  as  a  worker  for 
daily  bread,  he  had  for  twenty  years  been  ac- 
knowledged a  leader  of  the  "old  New  York  mer- 
chant princes."  At  his  death  his  estate  was 
estimated  at  $800,000,  equaling  in  importance  that 
of  Alexander  T.  Stewart,  and  thus  one  of  the  half 
dozen  greatest  fortunes  of  the  day. 

John  Mason's  success  in  every  enterprise  which 
he  took  up  made  him  eagerly  sought  as  a  director 
and  stockholder  in  many  companies.  Neverthe- 
less, he  confined  his  interests  to  a  few  well-man- 
aged concerns.  No  merchant  in  the  city  was 
credited  with  shrewder  insight  or  more  correct 
judgment,  yet  the  money  accumulated  by  his 
sound  methods  was  never  displayed  lavishly, 
whether  it  was  his  own  or  the  stockholders'. 

14 


a'K:- 


TtfrtCfi'JiMfCAJ.  BANK 

:  '?3%&ffo&,  r    ,,,,>  >     if.  Sjp Eta  «£/  ' V/ 1  S3g 


gp^?^^°^;A 


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IWit^^H 


. 


^ 


CHEMICAL  BANK  NOTES 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  15 

Upon  the  conduct  of  the  Chemical  Bank 
President  Mason  firmly  stamped  his  own  methods, 
old  fashioned  and  conservative  in  the  extreme. 
Yet  the  sureness  of  his  judgment  made  him  will- 
ing to  render  financial  assistance  to  those  worthy 
of  it,  even  in  a  tight  money  market.  One  day  in 
1836  the  cashier  had  refused  to  discount  the  note 
of  a  well-known  journalist.  Hard  times  were 
approaching  —  indeed,  the  panic  of  1837  was 
drawing  near.  As  the  disappointed  applicant  was 
passing  out  of  the  Broadway  entrance  he  was  ac- 
costed by  a  tall  gentleman  whom  he  did  not 
know.  This  was  John  Mason,  president  of  the 
Bank.  "Good  day!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Mason.  "I 
have  long  wished  for  the  pleasure  of  encountering 
you.  I  have  read  your  productions  for  years,  and 
so  has  my  family,  and  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to 
say  how  delighted  we  have  been.  I  hope  the 
world  goes  fairly  with  you,  for  I  know  of  no  one 
who  more  richly  deserves  to  succeed  in  his  under- 
taking.    But  what  brings  you  to  our  Bank?' 

"I  have  been  an  unsuccessful  applicant  for  a 
discount,"  was  the  reply. 

"This  should  not  be.  Times  are  hard,  to  be 
sure,  but  they  ought  to  try  to  accommodate  you. 
Is  the  amount  you  require  a  large  one,  and  do  you 
wish  to  employ  it  in  your  business?" 

"I  do,  sir." 

"Then  you  shall  have  it.  If  the  Bank  cannot 
accommodate  you,  I  will  do  it  out  of  my  own 
private  funds.     Walk  in." 


1 6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

The  visitor  secured  his  money. 

The  insight  displayed  by  John  Mason,  and  the 
esteem  in  which  the  community  held  him,  are  ap- 
parent from  his  prominence  in  the  founding  of  the 
New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad  in  183 1,  and  of 
the  first  savings  bank  in  New  York  City  thirteen 
years  before. 

Soon  after  President  Mason  assumed  official 
charge  of  the  Chemical  his  experience  and  re- 
sponsibility were  put  to  a  severe  test  by  the 
"  safety  fund"  which  the  New  York  Legislature  had 
put  into  operation  on  April  22, 1 829,  largely  through 
the  influence  of  Governor  Martin  Van  Buren. 

Remembering  the  part  played  by  a  similar 
plan  in  the  national  campaign  of  1908,  and  in 
Oklahoma  in  1909,  it  is  additionally  interesting  to 
trace  the  workings  of  the  Van  Buren  idea,  where- 
by New  York  banks  were  mutually  to  insure 
against  loss  to  their  depositors.  A  guaranty 
fund  was  established,  to  which  every  newly 
chartered  bank,  or  any  other  willing  to  join  the 
fund,  was  required  to  make  an  annual  contri- 
bution of  one  half  of  1  per  cent,  of  the  bank's 
paid-up  capital. 

The  money  was  to  be  cared  for  by  the  State 
Treasurer  until  it  amounted  to  3  per  cent,  of  the 
capital  of  the  bank,  when  it  was  to  be  applied  to 
the  payment  of  the  debts  of  any  insolvent  bank. 

As  the  following  contemporary  statement  shows, 
most  of  the  banks  came  within  this  law  after  it 
had  been  operating  five  years: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


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HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


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HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


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HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


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HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  21 

Unfortunately  for  the  success  of  the  system, 
eleven  New  York  banks  failed  in  1841  and  1842, 
with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $3,150,000.  Since 
the  claims  to  be  paid  were  $2,559,000  and  the 
total  amount  of  the  paid-up  safety  fund  was 
only  $1,876,073,  an  extra  amount  had  to  be 
raised.  The  state  therefore  issued  a  6  per 
cent,  stock,  the  redemption  of  which  paid  the 
disastrous  bill,  and  the  safety-fund  plan  ceased 
to  exist. 

Even  during  such  troublous  times  the  Chemical 
Bank  was  favorably  regarded.  John  Mason's 
reputation  was  such  that  any  enterprise  claiming 
his  active  interest  was  ipso  facto  considered  as 
a  safe  investment.  The  stock  of  the  Bank, 
quoted  at  first  105  on  September  11,  1824,  grad- 
ually rose  to  109  asked  and  io8f  offered  by  Nov- 
ember 13th.  After  a  decline  to  102^  on  December 
nth,  the  price  rose  by  January,  1825,  to  106J. 
In  November,  1832,  the  stock  was  quoted  at 
n6|. 

The  quaint  old  New  York  Spectator,  published 
by  Francis  Hall  &  Co.,  46  Pine  Street,  under  date 
of  October  28,  1839,  mentions  the  stock  under 
the  heading  of  "Prices  of  Stocks"  as  follows: 

"  Chemical  Bank.     90  offered.     No.  Asked." 

A  statement  of  the  Bank  as  of  February  2,  1835, 
may  be  interesting  at  this  time,  together  with  a 
list  of  the  directors  holding  office  on  August  31st, 
the  same  year: 


22  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Statement  of  the  funds  and  property  of  the  New  York 
Chemical  Manufacturing  Company,  February  2,  1835: 

Chemical  manufactory #100,000  00 

Due  from  factory 59,787  94 

Bills  discounted 858,547  32 

Bonds  and  loans  on  demand 5, 818  50 

Notes  of  city  banks 68,693  49 

Due  from  city  banks 92,975  27 

Due  from  country  banks          10,008  43 

Banking  house,  etc 1,600  00 

Specie 50,020  71 

$1,247,451  66 

Capital  stock $500,000  00 

Surplus  fund 22,848  94 

Bills  in  circulation 206,381  00 

Due  to  city  banks 67,318  41 

Due  to  country  banks 3,264  12 

Dividends  unpaid 18,197  32 

Individual  deposits 429,441  87 


$1,247,451  66 

LIST   OF    DIRECTORS,    AUGUST   3 1,    1835 

John  Mason,  President  George  Jones 

Gideon  Tucker  John  Q.  Jones,  Factory  Agent 

Thomas  T.  Woodruff  Archibald  Craig,  Cashier 

Gerard  H.  Coster  Samuel  A.  Porter,  Notary 
William  T.  McCoun  Public 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    FINANCIAL    STORM    OF     1 83  7 ALL 

SPECIE    PAYMENTS    SUSPENDED 

The  trouble  that  had  come  with  Governor  Van 
Buren's  safety-fund  system  was  but  a  breath  com- 
pared to  the  financial  storm  that  assailed  the 
banks  of  New  York  in  1837.  Emigration  to  the 
West  had  excited  the  public  imagination  and 
speculation  to  a  point  where  it  seemed  that  there 
could  be  no  top  to  the  prices  for  Western  lands. 
State  banks  recklessly  increased  their  paper  cur- 
rency. The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  failing  to 
renew  its  charter  in  1836,  ceased  operations.  Thus 
the  state  banks  were  left  to  their  own  devices, 
and  when  the  Government,  in  July  of  that  year, 
brought  out  its  "specie  circular,"  ordering  that 
only  gold  and  silver  should  be  accepted  in  pay- 
ment for  public  lands,  the  speculative  balloon  was 
punctured. 

In  such  a  general  collapse  the  conservative 
were  involved,  if  only  temporarily,  as  well  as  the 
speculative.  Chemical  Bank  stock  fell  from  124 
in  January  to  98  in  July,  although  by  October  it 
was  back  to  102,  and  by  December  to  112. 

Moreover,    the    Chemical    followed    the    other 

23 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

twenty  New  York  City  banks  in  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments.  It  had  not  yet  attained  the 
firmness  which  more  than  twenty  years  later 
enabled  it  to  stand  alone  as  a  cash  payer  during  a 
similar  catastrophe. 

The  anger  and  denunciation  at  the  suspension 
were  expressed  with  characteristic  energy  by 
James  Gordon  Bennett  of  the  New  York  Herald 
in  the  daily  financial  articles  which  his  was  the 
first  newspaper  to  print.  He  had  made  his  two- 
year-old  sheet  a  real  power  in  the  city,  in  spite  of 
the  hostility  which  it  is  evident  must  have  been 
aroused  by  such  breezy,  independent,  and  scath- 
ing passages  as  this: 

The  banks  of  this  city  were  the  first  to  dis- 
grace themselves  in  a  body  by  suspending,  during 
the  midst  of  a  ridiculous  panic,  widely  produced 
by  their  own  depositors  in  order  to  speculate  in 
bullion  for  exportation.  There  was  no  necessity 
for  the  suspension. 

On  July  i,  1837,  the  Chemical's  specie  had  fallen 
to  £11,383,  from  £57,661  on  January  1st,  and  its 
circulation  from  £266,969  to  £194,634.  Its  prof- 
its were  only  £69,068. 

That  Chemical  Bank  notes  were  preferable,  on 
account  of  the  stability  and  soundness  of  the  in- 
stitution, to  those  of  other  banks,  is  to  be  gathered 
from  another  sprightly  article  of  Mr.  Bennett's, 
dated  May  16,  1837.  With  high  newspaper  enter- 
prise,   he   announced   that   he  would   pay   specie 


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2 

- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  25 

upon  five-dollar  notes  of  the  Chemical  Bank  to 
ladies  alone: 

"My  object,"  he  said,  "is  to  furnish  as  much 
as  I  can  the  gentler  sex  with  change  to  make  their 
little  purchases  in  the  shops  and  markets,  and  to 
rescue  as  many  as  I  can  from  the  arts  of  shavers 
and  speculators  now  flooding  the  city.  Be  it 
recollected  also,  that  I  only  redeem  the  little 
Chemical's  notes  because  I  have  full  confidence  in 
the  character  and  integrity  of  John  Mason,  Esq., 
its  worthy  president,  and  the  other  directors  of 
that  institution.  Under  the  auspices  of  this  good 
man,  who  is  a  gentleman  and  a  man  of  business  of 
the  old  school,  who  abominates  all  the  kiting  in- 
ventions of  Wall  Street,  I  have  no  doubt  the  Chem- 
ical will  resume  specie  payments  as  soon  as,  if  not 
sooner  than,  any  other  bank  in  the  city.  The 
hours  for  redemption  are  between  11  and  1  o'clock 
to-morrow,  at  21  Ann  Street,  five  dollars  for  each 
person.  Be  punctual  and  be  pretty,  fair  ones;  the 
world  is  not  yet  at  an  end." 

Another  amusing  article,  reflecting  the  assured 
value  of  the  Chemical  notes,  but  written  in  a  dif- 
ferent vein,  appears  in  the  Herald  of  September 
21,  1837: 

Fatigued  with  exertions  on  the  Sessions  Court, 
on  Saturday  we  pushed  toward  Park  Row  and 
jumped  into  little  John  Kelly's  handsome  hack. 

"Where  to?"  says  the  attentive  John. 

"Barclay  Street,  Newark  boat,"  and  we  soon 
stood  before  the  Cerberus  stationed  there  to  take 
toll.     We  presented  a  Rhode  Island  bill. 


26  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

"Can't  take  it." 

"Providence!" 

"We  have  nothing  to  do  with  Providence 
here,"  said  he  huskily.  We  looked  into  his  eyes 
and  felt  bound  to  believe  him. 

"Boston,"  we  exclaimed,  presenting  a  piece  of 
paper  purporting  to  be  payable  in  the  modern 
Athens. 

"Boston's  bankrupt." 

"Chemical  Bank  of  New  York,"  presenting  a 
pale-faced  five  that  smelt  of  sulphuric  acid,  iodine 
of  azote,  phosphuretted  hydrogen,  oxide  of  tel- 
lurium, and  a  host  of  hydrates. 

"Good  as  gold,"  said  the  old  surly,  giving  us 
the  change,  and  the  piece  of  paper  did  act  like  the 
u powder  of  projection,"  for  by  it  we  were  placed 
on  board  of  the  boat. 


New- York,     J<  }<  k         I 


183/ 


Cashier  of  the  CHEMICAL   BANK, 


PAY 


(.„/..«..-.    t&  Cn'l  (,'*t./<\  a 


\X 


^ 


^  or  Hearer, 
Dollars. 


6^«r 


|Sl  QFF[ee  OF  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  H,YV.  CH.EIVUCA.L  MAHUFA.eTUR.lH© GO. 

/V   Af  i    18KV 


NE  W-  YORK' 


CASHIER  ©F  THI  GHIIHIOAI.  SAUK, 


Dollars: 


&V<Wg 


FOR  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES, 


^"a-?  <~ 


.President. 


CASHIER  .;//-   CHEMICAL  BANK, 


Jyvnr  'vvss^ cts^cd  r  Tx^wA,  jia*-o 


vur~ 


hyKJ^riJ 


aro. 


CHEMICAL  BANK  CHECKS 


CHAPTER  IV 

WINDING    UP    THE    CHEMICAL    MANUFACTUR- 
ING   COMPANY 

The  effects  of  the  panic  of  1837  had  not  blown 
over  two  years  later,  for  a  financial  writer  de- 
clared on  September  26,  1839: 

The  pressure  in  the  money  market  has  not  been 
so  great  since  the  spring  of  1837  as  it  is  at  this 
moment.  It  is  even  doubtful  among  the  wise- 
acres of  Wall  Street  whether  the  pressure  now  is 
not  greater  than  in  that  year  of  excitement, 
virtue,  folly,  wisdom  and  d  —  n  nonsense. 

And  Philip  Hone,  whose  diary  is  a  mine  of  ref- 
erence for  this  period,  wrote  in  August  of  the 
same  year: 

The  New  York  papers  contain  every  day  an 
account  of  increased  commercial  distress. 

There  was  no  "distress,"  however,  connected 
with  the  ownership  of  Chemical  Bank  notes,  as 
one  learns  from  another  filing  of  James  Gordon 
Bennett's.  A  disastrous  fire  had  destroyed  more 
than  four  hundred  and  fifty  houses  in  Mobile, 
Ala.,  with  a    loss    of   #1,750,000.     Mr.    Bennett, 

27 


2  8  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

drawing  a  one-hundred-dollar  check  to  aid  the 
sufferers,  remarked  that  he  made  it  payable  in 
Chemical  Bank  notes,  "which  are  equivalent  to 
gold  and  silver  and  not  a  degraded  currency  like 
the  bank  notes  of  Philadelphia." 

A  serious  blow  to  the  Chemical  Bank,  on  Sep- 
tember 26,  1839,  was  the  death  of  John  Mason. 
Few  severer  tests  could  have  been  made  of  the 
conservatism  and  soundness  of  his  banking  meth- 
ods than  the  events  of  1837.  His  place  as  a 
pioneer  banker  is  best  indicated  by  the  simple 
statement  that  it  was  in  these  same  troublous 
years  that  the  public  feeling  of  confidence  in  the 
Chemical  Bank,  which  has  never  been  shaken  to 
this  day,  became  established. 

The  new  president,  Isaac  Jones,  was  elected 
October  1st,  and  at  the  same  time  John  Quentin 
Jones,  cousin  to  the  new  president,  succeeded 
Archibald  Craig  as  cashier.  First  one,  then  the 
other,  of  the  Joneses  was  to  control  the  destinies 
of  the  Chemical  for  nearly  forty  years.  Both  had 
the  closest  associations  with  John  Mason,  ties 
not  only  of  business  but  also  of  family.  Three 
of  the  latter's  daughters  married  members  of  the 
Jones  family,  Mary  becoming  the  wife  of  Isaac 
Jones. 

Extract  from  letters  by  "Old  New  Yorker"  to 
the  Evening  Post  of  New  York,  published  in  1882: 

"After  the  great  fire  of  1835  it  was  proposed 
to  organize  two  hose  companies  in  the  Third  Ward, 
and  one  of  the  residents  on  whom  I  called  for  a 


*v  ■ 


ml. 


■  ~>  <^. 


Ss§^"'::'%->ri<  ■■£?:, 


PHILIP  HONE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  29 

subscription  was  Joshua  Jones,  who  lived  in  style 
in  Chambers  Street,  and  whose  son  Isaac  married 
the  daughter  of  John  Mason,  the  President  of 
the  Chemical  Bank,  and,  at  one  time,  the  owner 
of  much  of  what  is  now  the  Central  Park.  Mr. 
Jones  declined  to  subscribe,  but  the  necessary 
#1,600  was  obtained  nevertheless,  and  with  it 
the  two  hose-carts  and  1,000  feet  of  hose.  I 
became  foreman  of  one  of  the  companies,  and 
Samuel  N.  Wyckoff  assistant  foreman,  and  when 
the  whole  Fire  Department  had  become  disorgan- 
ized by  the  removal  of  Chief  Engineer  James 
Gulick,  these  companies  used  all  their  energy  at 
every  fire  that  occurred.  Having  been  asked  re- 
peatedly by  Mr.  Wyckoff  to  contribute  something 
to  our  company,  Mr.  Jones  at  last  consented  on 
condition  that  the  company  should  be  able  to 
play,  through  hose  attached  to  a  hydrant,  from 
the  street  to  the  roof  of  his  house.  The  nearest 
hydrant  was  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Chambers 
Street  and  West  Broadway,  and  it  took  about 
300  feet  of  hose  to  reach  the  curb  in  the  front  of 
Mr.  Jones's  residence;  but  though  the  chances  were 
decidedly  against  the  success  of  the  attempt,  it 
was  determined  to  make  it,  and  at  the  appointed 
time  Mr.  Jones  stood  on  the  roof  to  see  that  there 
was  no  mistake.  The  hose  company  had  resolved 
to  soak  his  house  for  him  if  they  failed  in  reaching 
the  roof;  and  as  the  cornice  of  the  building  pro- 
jected some  distance  toward  the  street,  and  the 
firemen    were,    in    consequence,    unable    to    place 


3o  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

a  solid  stream  on  the  roof,  they  gave  the  front  of 
the  building  a  good  wash,  and  began  to  fill  the 
cellar.  Mr.  Jones,  from  his  lofty  pinnacle,  begged 
them  to  stop,  promising,  for  his  own  preservation 
probably,  to  subscribe  a  hundred  dollars  to  the 
company's  fund." 

A  noteworthy  day  for  the  Chemical  Bank  was 
in  1842,  when  a  new  clerk  was  taken  on  —  George 
Gilbert  Williams.  During  no  less  than  thirty- 
six  years  he  was  to  be  trained  in  the  Mason  and 
Jones  methods  of  solid  banking.  And  after  that 
time,  as  we  shall  see,  his  personal  leadership  of 
the  Bank  extended  over  an  eventful  quarter  of  a 
century. 

The  main  problem  before  the  new  managers 
was  the  procuring  of  a  bank  charter  to  replace  that 
of  the  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company,  which 
was  to  expire  in  1844.  This  had  to  be  secured 
under  the  Free  Banking  law,  which  had  gone  into 
operation  in  1838.  It  permitted  any  individual  or 
association  to  engage  in  banking  on  depositing, 
with  the  Comptroller,  stocks  of  the  United  States, 
state  stocks  paying  5  per  cent.,  or  stocks,  bonds, 
and  mortgages  on  improved,  productive,  and  un- 
encumbered real  estate  worth  double  the  amount 
secured  by  the  mortgage,  over  and  above  all  build- 
ings. The  Comptroller  was  required  to  deliver  to 
such  an  individual  or  association  an  equal  amount 
of  bank  notes  for  circulation.  No  specific  amount 
was  required  nor  were  the  stockholders  liable  as 
individuals   for  losses.     Abuses   soon   sprang  up, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  31 

and  many  banks  were  organized  on  weak  security. 
The  law  was  modified  in  1840  by  excluding  the 
depositing  of  stocks  from  other  states  for  bank 
notes,  but  the  evil  was  by  no  means  wholly 
remedied. 

It  was  under  the  provisions  of  this  law,  in  1844, 
that  a  charter  was  finally  secured  for  the  Chemical 
Bank  —  "to  terminate  January  1,  1899"  —  and 
it  operated  under  this  charter  for  twenty-one 
years.  There  were  3,000  shares  of  #100  each, 
and  the  charter  provided  for  five  directors.  This 
capitalization  of  $300,000  was  retained  without 
change  until  February  1,  1907.  But  the  stock,  at 
first  quoted  in  the  '80's,  sold  in  less  than  sixty  years 
for  more  than  fifty  times  as  much,  an  increment  of 
nearly  100  per  cent,  a  year  for  more  than  half  a 
century. 

At  public  auction,  by  A.  J.  Bleecker  &  Co.,  on 
June  10,  1844,  there  were  sold  all  the  city  and 
state  stocks  owned  by  the  Chemical  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  and  a  goodly  list  they  formed.  On 
May  27th,  at  a  trustees'  meeting,  at  which  W.  T. 
McCoun,  Isaac  Jones,  George  Jones,  Moses 
Tucker,  and  George  B.  Gilbert  were  present,  it 
had  been  decided  thus  to  wind  up  the  company's 
affairs.  The  sum  of  $153,196.90  was  obtained 
through  the  sale  of  nineteen  different  kinds  of 
stock,  aggregating  149,196  shares.  Most  of  the 
securities  were  state,  canal,  and  New  York  City 
water  loans.  The  highest  price  was  H2f  for  a 
7  per  cent.  New  York  water  loan,  $21,000  face 


32  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

value.  Only  two  of  the  nineteen  blocks  went 
as  low  as  101  —  a  block  of  12,200  New  York 
water  shares,  and  another  water  stock  of  11,250 
shares. 

That  not  a  single  block  of  stock  sold  for  less 
than  101  is  perhaps  the  most  significant  com- 
mentary upon  the  business  acumen  of  the  men 
who  had  brought  the  Chemical  Manufacturing 
Company,  during  those  twenty  years  of  existence, 
to  this  point  of  successful  transformation  into  a 
bank  pure  and  simple. 

Directors  on  February  24,  1844,  then  trustees  of 
the  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company,  discharged 
1 85 1,  were: 

Isaac  Jones,  President  George  B.  Gilbert 

George  Jones  Gideon  Tucker  (died  1845) 

A.  Gordon  Hamersley  John  Q.  Jones,  Cashier   and 

William  T.  McCoun  Factory  Agent 

Moses  Tucker 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    NEW    STOCKHOLDERS    AND    THE 
NEW  PRESIDENT,  JOHN  Q.  JONES 

The  list  of  the  subscribers  to  the  new  stock  of 
the  Chemical  Bank  in  1844  makes  reminiscent 
reading.  Although  it  is  a  small  list,  comprising 
only  twenty-eight  names,  many  of  the  men  whom 
it  brings  to  remembrance  were  not  only  among  the 
financial  and  mercantile  leaders  of  their  day,  but 
also  founded  institutions  and  families  that  have 
remained  representative  of  the  best  up  to  the 
present  time.  The  complete  list  is  given  on  the 
following  page. 

Some  changes  of  vast  importance  took  place  in 
the  Bank's  personnel.  John  B.  Desdoity  was  ap- 
pointed cashier  at  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum, 
and  Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt,  John  D.  Wolfe, 
Bradish  Johnson,  and  Isaac  L.  Piatt,  together 
with  John  Q.  Jones,  were  elected  directors.  Their 
first  meeting  was  held  on  January  30,  1844,  and 
at  this  time  President  Isaac  Jones  retired.  What 
his  quiet  and  sterling  character  had  meant  to  the 
Bank  and  to  those  whose  business  interests  were 
identified  with  the  institution  with  which  he  was 
for  so  long  a  time  officially  connected  may  be  judged 

33 


34  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

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HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  35 

by  this  extract  from  the  brief  obituary  notice  in  the 
New  York  Times,  at  his  death,  March  14,  1854: 

Mr.  Jones  was  a  director  of  the  late  Chemical 
Bank  and  afterward  president  until  the  expira- 
tion of  its  charter.  Then,  as  trustee,  he  acted  in 
the  closing  of  its  aflairs  until  all  its  assets  were 
distributed.  He  was  modest,  unobtrusive  and  of 
few  words.  Gentle,  hospitable,  charitable,  he 
drew  friends  closely  to  himself  by  esteem  and  re- 
gard. His  integrity  sustained  the  confidence  of 
those  whose  interests  were  in  his  charge,  a  con- 
fidence never  violated,  never  justly  impaired  or 
assailed. 

In  his  place  the  Bank  obtained  the  services  as 
president  of  the  man  who  was  to  steer  its  course 
safely  and  brilliantly  through  smooth  seas  and 
rough  during  the  next  thirty-four  years  —  John 
Quentin  Jones,  whose  salary  was  only  $2,000. 

It  came  to  be  said  in  later  years  that  although 
John  Mason  had  been  called  "The  Father  of  the 
Chemical  Bank,"  John  Quentin  Jones  had  vir- 
tually become  the  Bank  itself.  He  had  been  sur- 
rounded by  the  atmosphere  of  the  work  at  216 
Broadway  long  before  he  held  any  position  of 
trust  there;  and  he  could  have  had  no  better 
teachers,  both  in  the  theory  and  practice  of 
banking,  than  John  Mason  and  his(JohnQuentin's) 
cousin   Isaac  Jones. 

When  President  John  Q.  Jones  called  to  order 
the  first  meeting  under  the  new  charter,  on  Jan- 
uary 30th,  he  was  already  a  man  of  wide  and  un- 


36  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

usual  influence.  A  story  frequently  told  is  that 
of  an  intimate  friend  who  once  mentioned  the 
name  of  a«  man  to  whom  he  had  lent  money  on  a 
mortgage,  but  who  had  positively  refused  to  pay 
up.  Mr.  Jones's  friend  did  not  want  to  distress 
the  debtor,  but  he  needed  the  money. 

"Leave  the  mortgage  with  me,"  said  Mr. 
Jones.     His  friend  did  so. 

A  few  days  later  he  received  a  note  asking  him  to 
call  at  Mr.  Jones's  office  for  the  interest  on  his 
debt,  after  which  time  it  was  paid  as  promptly 
as  it  fell  due. 

The  whole  explanation  lay  in  a  polite  note 
which  had  been  written  by  Mr.  Jones  to  the 
debtor,  and  which  exerted  that  indefinable  some- 
thing called  personal  influence,  although  the  man 
was  a  stranger  to  him  and  had  previously  refused 
to  pay  his  friend  a  single  dollar. 

No  cost  was  spared  in  the  engraving  of  the  mag- 
nificent one,  two,  and  five  dollar  bills  that  were 
at  once  issued.  We  quote  from  the  New  York 
Tribune  of  May  15,  1844: 

"The  Fulton  Bank  is  issuing  a  superior  note 
from  the  house  of  Tappan,  Carpenter  &  Co.,  and 
the  Chemical  Bank,  a  more  superior  one,  if  pos- 
sible, from  the  house  of  Danforth,  Spencer  & 
Hufty." 

It  was  soon  evident  that,  in  spite  of  the  wealth 
and  prominence  of  the  ■  active  men  among  the 
directors  and  stockholders,   the  guiding  force  in 


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CHEMICAL  BANK  NOTES 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  37 

the  career  of  the  Bank  was  to  be  John  Quentin 
Jones.  His  plan  from  the  first  was  to  command 
public  confidence  by  doing  business  with  a  small 
capital,  while  maintaining  a  large  surplus.  Suc- 
cess was  apparent  in  the  class  of  depositors  at- 
tracted, among  whom  were  many  of  the  leading 
merchants  in  the  city. 

On  June  2,  1848,  Mr.  C.  V.  S.  Roosevelt  was 
elected  temporary  vice-president  and  held  that 
office  until  April  2,  1849. 


C 

4 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE    FIRST    DIVIDEND 


To  keep  at  all  times  a  surplus  so  large  as  to  af- 
ford ample  protection  to  depositors,  instead  of 
taking  it  out  in  profits  to  stockholders,  was 
President  Jones's  determination.  He  was  able  to 
adhere  to  it  because  of  his  consummate  ability 
and  unremitting  concentration  upon  the  Chem- 
ical's affairs,  which,  aside  from  his  passion  for 
shooting  and  outdoor  walks,  and  his  daily  intimacy 
with  Ludlow  Thomas  and  other  close  friends, 
formed  the  one  interest  of  his  bachelor  life. 

By  1848,  however,  the  surplus  had  grown  so 
large  that  even  President  Jones  became  anxious. 
On  December  26th  the  directors  met  in  the  old- 
fashioned,  ill-lighted  back  room  at  216  Broadway 
and  deliberated.  The  result  was  this  simple  rec- 
ord, inscribed  upon  the  minutes  of  the  meeting: 

On  motion,  Resolved:  That  it  is  expedient  to 
declare  a  dividend,  payable  on  the  second  day  of 
January  next. 

On  motion,  Resolved:  That  a  dividend  of 
6  per  cent,  payable  to  the  stockholders  of  this 
Bank,  on  the  2nd  of  January,  1849,  is  hereby 
declared. 

J.  Q.  Jones,  President. 
38 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


39 


Two  days  later  the  daily  papers  carried  this 
brief  notice: 

Chemical  Bank,  Dec.  27,  1848. 
A  dividend  of  6  per  cent,  will  be  paid  on  the 
2nd  of  January  next. 

J.  B.  Desdoity,  Cashier. 

Thus  was  announced  the  first  of  a  series  of 
dividends  maintained  with  clockwork  regularity 
to  this  day.  Moreover,  their  percentage  has  con- 
stantly increased,  or  else  has  been  upheld,  in  spite 
of  the  severest  financial  reverses  that  the  nation 
has  undergone  during  the  years  since. 

The  total  dividends  for  the  year  1849  were  12 
per  cent.,  a  figure  higher  than  that  of  any  of  the 
twenty-two  dividend-paying  banks  in  New  York 
City. 

STOCKHOLDERS    AT   DATE   OF    FIRST  DIVIDEND 
JANUARY  2,    1849 


Samuel  Bell 
Japhet  Bishop 
Henry  Bodmer,  Jr. 
Archibald  Davie 
Philip  Embury 
John  Ferguson 
A.  N.  Gifford 
Peter  Goelet 
A.  Gordon  Hamersley 
John  Horsburgh 
John  Q.  Jones 
Bradish  Johnson 
David  S.  Kennedy 


John  LeMaire 

Isabella  Lee 

Robert  McCoskry 

James  Mills 

Isaac  L.  Platt 

Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt 

Joseph  Sampson 

Alexander  T.  Stewart 

A.  G.  Stout 

John  Scott 

William  Whitewright 

John  D.  Wolfe 

Thomas  T.  Woodruff 


40  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Another  memorable  event  for  the  Bank  was  its 
move  five  blocks  farther  up  Broadway,  early  in 
1850.  The  historic  "216  Broadway,  opposite  St. 
Paul's,"  had  to  be  forsaken  for  the  larger  quarters 
at  270  Broadway,  at  which  spot  the  Chemical  is 
still  to  be  found. 

Beginning  with  this  same  year,  the  country  en- 
tered upon  a  period  of  prosperity  and  of  mul- 
tiplication of  banks.  In  New  York  City  there 
was  so  much  discount  and  check  business  that 
some  simplification  was  imperatively  called  for, 
and  when  in  1853  the  New  York  Clearing  House 
was  formed  the  Chemical  Bank  was  one  of  its 
original  members,  as  attested  by  its  minutes  for 
September  13,  1853: 

Resolved:  That  this  Bank  agrees  to  come  into 
the  arrangements  of  the  associated  banks  for  the 
more  easy  adjustment  of  balances  between  the 
city  banks. 

This  list  of  the  banks  of  the  city  of  New  York  on 
September  29,  1853,  is  quoted  to  show  how  many 
changes  have  taken  place  among  the  city's  finan- 
cial institutions  in  the  more  than  half  century: 

NAME  DATE      OF      CHARTER  CAPITAL 

Bank  of  New  York       ....  1791  March  21  $1,500,000 

Manhattan  Company  ....  1799  April  2  2,050,000 
Merchants'  Bank  (commenced 

business  in  1803)   ....  1805  June  7  1,490,000 

Mechanics'  Bank 1810  March  23  1,440,000 

Union  Bank 1811  March  1  1,000,000 

Bank  of  America 181 2  June  1  2,000,000 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  41 

NAME  DATE      OF      CHARTER  CAPITAL 

Phenix  Bank 1812  June  15  1,200,000 

City  Bank 1812  June  16  1,000,000 

North  River  Bank       ....  1821  665,000 

Tradesmen's  Bank       ....  1823  400,000 

Fulton  Bank 1824  March  I  600,000 

Chemical  Bank 1824  April  I  300,000 

Dry  Dock  Bank 1825  200,000 

Merchants'  Exchange  Bank  .      .  1828  June  I  1,235,000 

National  Bank 1829  April  30  750,000 

Butchers'  and  Drovers'  Bank  1830  April  8  600,000 

Mechanics'  and  Traders'  Bank    .  1830  April  15  200,000 

Greenwich  Bank 1830  April  17  200,000 

Leather  Manufacturers'  Bank     .  1832  April  23  600,000 

Seventh  Ward  Bank   ....  1833  April  500,000 

Bank  of  the  State  of  New  York  1836  May  18  2,000,000 

American  Exchange  Bank      .      .  1838  July  17  2,000,000 

Mechanics'  Banking  Association  1838  Aug.  I  632,000 

Bank  of  Commerce     ....  1839  Jany.   1  5,000,000 

Bowery  Bank 1847  April  20  356,650 

Broadway  Bank 1849  Aug.  9  600,000 

Ocean  Bank 1849  Dec.  10  1,000,000 

Mercantile  Bank 1849  Dec.  28  600,000 

Pacific  Bank 1850  Oct.   17  422,700 

Bank  of  the  Republic       .      .      .  1851  Jany.  20  1,500,000 

Chatham  Bank 1851  Feby.  I  450,000 

People's  Bank 1851   Feby.  8  412,500 

Bank  of  North  America  .  .  1851  Feby.  25  1,000,000 

Hanover  Bank 1851  March  24  1,000,000 

Irving  Bank 1851  April  4  300,000 

Metropolitan  Bank      .      .      .  185 1  April  7  2,000,000 

New  York  Exchange  Bank    .  185 1  April  21  130,000 

Citizens'  Bank 1851  May  20  350,000 

Knickerbocker  Bank    ....  185 1  July  16  400,000 

Grocers'  Bank 1851  Aug.  1  300,000 

Empire  City  Bank       ....  185 1   Dec.  30  302,462.50 

Suffolk  Bank 1852  June  26  250,000 


42  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

NAME  DATE      OF       CHARTER  CAPITAL 

Nassau  Bank 1852  Aug.   1  500,000 

East  River  Bank 1852  Sept.  8  4I3,o5o 

Market  Bank 1852  Nov.  1  650,000 

St.  Nicholas  Bank       ....  1852  Nov.  22  500,000 

Shoe  and  Leather  Bank  .      .      .  1852  Nov.  23  600,000 

Corn  Exchange  Bank        .      .      .  1852  Dec.  6  582,780 

Central  Bank 1853  Jany.   17  300,000 

Continental  Bank 1853  Jany.   18  1,500,000 

Bank  of  the  Commonwealth  1853  March  1  700,000 

Oriental  Bank 1853  April   19  300,000 

Marine  Bank 1853  May  5  500,000 

Bank  of  the  Union      ....  1853  May  23  300,000 

Atlantic  Bank 1853  May  25  326,200 

Island  City  Bank 1853  July  21  300,000 

Eighth  Avenue  Bank        .      .      .  1853  Aug.  30  200,000 

Three  of  the  presidents  of  the  Clearing  House, 
by  the  way,  were  later  supplied  by  the  Chemical 
—  John  Quentin  Jones,  George  G.  Williams,  and 
William  H.  Porter. 

Of  the  enormous  business  activity  in  every 
part  of  the  country,  the  Chemical  received  its 
full  share.  In  1855  the  dividends  were  in- 
creased to  18  per  cent.,  and  the  next  year  to  24 
per  cent. 

In  November  of  1855  the  faithful  cashier,  Mr. 
Desdoity,  died.  The  ability  of  George  G.  Wil- 
liams was  recognized  when,  on  December  13th, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  cashier's  position  from  his 
former  duties  of  discount  clerk.  His  salary  was 
#2,000. 

Quarterly  Report  of  the  Chemical  Bank  on 
Saturday,  the  29th  day  of  December,  1855: 


H 


VIEW  CORNER  OF  ANN  ST.  &  BROADWAY 
(former  site  or  barnum's  museum) 

NATIONAL    PARK    RANK    AND    HERALD    BUILDING  —  216-220 

BROADWAY—  1868 


■LWlllilllMM 


JJSI1I1    BBPBPIB 

|Hng g § e  11 11  in  [ 
""■U*  9 1 UJ  1  ij*—?,  1,1,1 1.1 


270  BROADWAY  —  1851 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  43 

RESOURCES 

Loans  and  discounts $1,288,932  35 

Overdrafts 410  67 

Due  from  banks 23,968  19 

Due  from  the  directors  of  the  Bank  $45,477.31,  in- 
cluding   all    liabilities,    whether    absolute    or 

contingent 

Real  estate 52,453    72 

Specie 304.S5I   H 

Cash  items 9X,785  39 

Stocks 374,746  77 

Bills  of  solvent  banks 1 4,7^8  00 

Loss  and  expense  account 14,183  82 


$2,165,820  05 

LIABILITIES 

Capital $    300,000  00 

Surplus 544,087  78 

Circulation  registered         ....  $339,127 

Less  notes  on  hand 95,689  243,438  00 

Due  to  banks 51,246  28 

Due  depositors  on  demand 1,027,047  99 

$2,165,820  05 


CHAPTER  VII 


"old  bullion"  in  the  panic  of  '57 


The  story  that  tells  how  the  Chemical  earned  its 
nickname  of  "Old  Bullion"  may  start  from  Sep- 
tember 21,  1857,  when  it  joined  with  the  other 
Clearing  House  banks  in  refusing  to  pay  interest 
on  deposits,  as  "unsound  in  principle,  unsafe  in 
practice,  and  contrary  to  the  best  interests  of 
both  our  dealers  and  ourselves,"  and  which  policy 
has  been  adhered  to  ever  since.  This  was  all  very 
well,  but  the  dangerous  business  conditions  which 
called  for  the  resolution  were  soon  to  develop  to  a 
point  where  none  but  an  impregnable  institution 
could  keep  up  to  the  highest  banking  standard  of 
conduct.  As  we  shall  see,  the  Chemical  alone 
stood  the  test. 

The  first  sign  of  trouble  was  the  failure  of  the 
Ohio  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company  in 
August,  1857.  To  the  public  it  was  a  bolt  from  an 
unclouded  sky.  The  company's  paid-up  capital 
was  #2,000,000.  Its  failure  was  complete,  and 
its  business  was  never  resumed.  Here  was  the 
straw  that  broke  the  overladen  back  of  the  entire 
financial  and  industrial  structure  of  the  United 
States  for  a  while. 

44 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  45 

The  country  had  bet  on  itself  too  heavily. 
Railroads,  especially  in  the  West,  had  been  fear- 
fully over-capitalized  and  overbuilt.  Improve- 
ments had  been  projected  to  the  tune  of  millions 
of  dollars.  In  the  Western  tracts  recently  opened 
to  settlement  towns  grew  into  cities  in  a  few 
weeks. 

Add  to  this  the  rise  in  commodity  prices  and  the 
consequent  speculation  in  them  following  the  un- 
precedented increase  in  gold  production  begun  by 
the  California  "Forty-niners,"  and  the  cause  is 
plain  for  the  crash  of  the  industrial  fabric  that 
came  in  1857,  and  that  engulfed  in  the  ruin 
wrought  thousands  of  firms  throughout  every  sec- 
tion of  the  country. 

The  banks  of  New  York  City  felt  the  blow  as 
they  never  have  felt  a  blow,  before  or  since.  To 
save  themselves,  they  decreased  their  loans  of 
$100,000,000  within  nine  weeks  by  20  per  cent. 
The  effect  upon  merchants  and  other  borrowers 
was,  of  course,  stunning. 

Even  the  savings  banks  had  unprecedented 
runs.  During  the  few  days  that  the  panic  was  at 
its  height  the  Bowery  Savings  Bank  paid  out 
$600,000. 

"What  has  merely  been  termed  a  crisis,"  de- 
clared one  newspaper,  "has  become  paralysis." 

At  the  height  of  the  panic  on  Tuesday,  October 
13th,  an  observer  wrote: 

Had  the  banks  been  doubly  as  strong,  they  had 
no  chance  whatever  of  withstanding  such  a  panic 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

spirit.  In  twenty-five  years'  experience  in  the 
Street  we  have  seen  nothing  to  compare  with  it. 
Every  counting  room  was  filled  with  its  anxious 
crowd  pressing  up  to  the  first  teller's  wicket, 
while  thousands  of  specators  assembled  outside 
the  buildings. 

On  that  day,  after  four  and  a  half  million  of 
specie  had  been  withdrawn,  the  doors  of  no  less 
than  eighteen  banks  were  closed. 

Scores  of  rich  men  lost  their  all.  Thousands  of 
others  were  in  doubt  as  to  whether  they  could  re- 
cover a  penny.  Everywhere  was  the  cry,  "What 
is  safe?" 

The  day  before,  some  bank  officers  had  met  at 
the  Clearing  House  and  resolved: 

That  the  banks  of  the  City  of  New  York  are 
determined,  at  all  hazards  and  under  all  circum- 
stances, to  perform  their  duty  to  the  country  and 
to  all  its  great  interests  in  the  maintenance  of 
specie  payments  and  that  all  classes  of  the  com- 
munity should  sustain  them  in  carrying  out  this 
determination. 

However,  on  the  evening  of  the  disastrous  13th 
itself,  after  a  protracted  meeting  of  bank  officers, 
lasting  until  ten  o'clock,  it  was  decided  that  specie 
payments  would  have  to  be  suspended. 

Some  of  the  banks  felt  confident  of  ability  to 
continue  paying  cash.  But  none  did  (if  the  rec- 
ords are  complete)  in  New  York  or  anywhere  else 
in  the  United  States,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Chemical  Bank,  and  one  or  two  interior  banks  hav- 
ing moderate  liabilities. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  47 

The  memorable  scene  on  the  morning  of  October 
14th  was  a  favorite  reminiscence  of  Jacob  Cox 
Parsons,  the  Chemical's  paying  teller  at  the  time. 

"Well  I  remember  the  day.  I  waited  with 
anxiety  the  arrival  of  the  president.  He  walked 
in  as  quietly  and  undisturbed  as  usual.  In  reply 
to  my  question,  'What  are  we  going  to  do,  Mr. 
Jones?'  he  answered  promptly,  'We  will  pay  all 
demands  on  us  in  gold.'" 

Robert  McCoskry,  a  director,  was  an  early 
arrival  that  morning.  Softly  whistling  a  favorite 
Scotch  tune,  his  hands  behind  his  back,  he  stood 
by  the  paying  teller  as  the  clamoring,  frenzied 
depositors  pressed  up  to  the  window  for  their 
money.  One  old  woman  in  the  throng  thrust  irt 
a  handful  of  bills.  The  paying  teller  saw  that 
they  were  not  Chemical  Bank  bills.  He  was 
about  to  hand  them  back. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Mr.  Parsons?"  said  Mr. 
McCoskry. 

"Why,  she  has  a  lot  of  bills  here  of  other  banks." 

"Oh,  give  the  old  lady  the  gold;  if  they  cannot 
redeem  their  promises  to  pay,  we'll  do  it  for  them." 

The  remark  was  received  with  an  outburst  of 
applause,  and  many  withdrew  satisfied  they 
could  get  their  money  at  any  time. 

From  that  day  the  familiar  name  of  "Old  Bul- 
lion" was  applied  to  the  Chemical,  representing 
the  popular  belief  in  it  as  the  only  bank  in  the 
United  States  where  the  depositor  could  get  real 
money   during   those   panicky   days.     The   abso- 


48  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

lute  bravery  with  which  the  Bank  faced  the  fierc- 
est crisis  that  the  country  had  ever  seen  added  to 
the  reputation  already  conferred  upon  it  in  '37 
for  soundness  under  any  financial  condition  what- 
soever. 

The  public  was  not  slow  to  appreciate  the 
Bank's  confidence  in  itself.  The  Commercial  Ad- 
vertiser, on  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  said: 

We  learn  that  the  Chemical  Bank  is  redeeming 
their  notes  and  deposits  in  specie  this  morning, 
and  have  expressed  an  intention  to  so  continue. 
There  is  little  or  no  pressure  upon  them  to-day 
for  redemption,  and  they  are  receiving  a  large 
addition  to  their  deposits. 

"An  oasis  in  the  desert"  is  what  the  New  York 
Herald  of  the  15th  termed  the  Bank's  position. 
A  special  editorial  ran  as  follows: 

In  the  general  wreck  of  the  character  of  our 
banking  institutions,  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that 
there  is  one  left  to  represent  the  advantages  of  a 
legitimate  banking  system.  Out  of  the  thou- 
sands of  banks  existing  throughout  the  Union 
there  is  at  this  moment  only  one  specie-paying 
bank  —  the  Chemical  Bank  of  New  York.  It  has 
not  only  been  promptly  meeting  all  the  demands 
of  this  kind  made  upon  it  since  the  commencement 
of  the  panic,  but  is  prepared  to  redeem  and  will 
continue,  if  necessary,  to  redeem  in  the  same 
way,  every  dollar  of  its  obligations.  It  has  gold 
enough  in  its  vaults  at  the  present  time  to  meet 
the  whole  of  its  liabilities;  and  on  the  system  on 
which   it  is   conducted,   there  is  no  condition  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  49 

things  which  can  affect  its  character  as  a  specie- 
paying  bank.  With  a  capital  of  only  #300,000,  it 
has  a  surplus  of  over  half  a  million,  or  nearly 
double  its  capital,  which  surplus  is  included  in  its 
deposits.  It  is  managed  by  some  half  dozen  of 
gentlemen  who  own  all  the  stock;  it  pays  a  divi- 
dend of  6  per  cent,  quarterly,  and  its  surplus  is 
steadily  increasing  with  these  large  dividends. 
These  figures  at  once  show  the  superior  character 
of  the  management  which  has  made  of  this  estab- 
lishment so  honorable  an  exception  to  the  neces- 
sity which  has  wrecked  the  faith  and  reputation  of 
our  banking  institutions  generally. 

The  enviable  position  which  the  Chemical  Bank 
holds  amidst  the  ruin  by  which  it  is  surrounded 
fully  illustrates  the  justice  of  the  axioms  that  we 
have  so  frequently  advanced  on  the  subject  of 
banking  in  this  country.  We  have  always  said 
—  and  the  recent  disasters  fully  bear  out  the 
assertion  —  that  if  the  banks  preserved  the  legiti- 
mate course  of  their  business,  and  kept  clear  from 
connection  with  speculators,  they  never  could  by 
any  possibility  be  reduced  to  the  painful  alter- 
native which  they  have  just  been  driven  to 
adopt. 

In  the  measures  which  it  will  be  necessary  to 
have  recourse  to,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of 
these  terrible  monetary  revulsions,  the  example 
of  the  Chemical  Bank,  standing  out,  as  it  does,  in 
bold  relief  from  the  failure  of  its  sister  institutions, 
will,  we  trust,  exercise  its  full  influence.  That 
which,  in  one  instance,  has  been  effected  by  the 
steady  good  sense  and  business  capacity  of  a 
few  practical  minds,  may  serve  as  a  useful 
guide  in  the  changes  called  for  in  the  general 
system. 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Only  one  reference  to  these  stirring  times  is 
found  in  the  minutes  of  the  Bank  itself.  It  is 
under  date  of  December  14th: 

At  an  informal  meeting  of  the  directors  on  the 
14th  of  October  last  it  was  decided  not  to  suspend 
specie  payments  with  the  banks  of  this  city  which 
then  suspended;  not  having  suspended,  no  re- 
sumption takes  place  in  connection  with  the  other 
banks  of  the  city,  which  this  day  resume. 

What  was  the  matter  with  all  the  other  New 
York  banks  on  October  31st?  A  financial  writer 
of  the  day  endeavored  to  analyze  their  condition, 
taking  the  weekly  statements  of  fifty-four  of  them. 
He  found  that  the  average  of  the  whole  was  one 
of  specie  to  seven  of  liability.  Twenty  were 
above  this  average,  thirty-four  below  it. 

"This  shows,"  adds  the  writer,  "that  an  aver- 
age of  one  to  seven  was  not  enough  to  prevent  sus- 
pension. As  an  illustration,  the  Chemical  Bank, 
with  a  liability  of  #1,100,000,  had  #327,000  of 
specie,  or  about  one  to  thirty-six.  The  Chemical 
Bank  stands  firm  even  yet." 

No  comment  on  the  Chemical's  position  during 
the  closing  months  of  1857  could  speak  plainer 
than  the  simple  figures  in  the  case.  Appended  are 
extracts  from  the  weekly  statements  of  certain 
dates,  showing  the  steady  increase  in  specie: 

DATE  SPECIE 

Oct.  3,  1857  $327,282 
Nov.  7,  1857  579,461 
Dec.  5,  1857      666,277 


CIRCULA- 
TION 

DEPOSITS 

£225,174 

$     992,054 

186,856 

1,525,191 

228,846 

I,6l9,8ll 

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BILLS  OF  OTHER   BANKS 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  51 

On  the  first  date,  out  of  about  fifty  banks,  only- 
twelve  had  more  specie  than  the  Chemical,  al- 
though twenty-three  had  more  deposits.  The 
situation  by  November  7th  was  that  only  five 
had  more  specie  and  but  fifteen  larger  deposits. 
It  was  evident  that  the  worst  phase  of  the  panic 
was  passing  away,  and  that  the  confidence  of  the 
public  had  been  entirely  won  by  the  confidence 
that  the  Chemical  Bank  had  shown  in  itself. 

EXTRACT    FROM   THE    MINUTE    BOOK    OF   THE  CHEM- 
ICAL   NATIONAL    BANK,    SEPTEMBER    21,    1857 

The  president  is  authorized  to  sign  an  agree- 
ment of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

The  undersigned  banks  located  and  doing  busi- 
ness in  the  City  of  New  York  deeming  that  the 
payment  of  interest  for  the  deposits  of  banks, 
bankers,  insurance  companies,  railroads,  and  other 
corporations,  also  the  deposits  of  individuals  or 
firms,  is  unsound  in  principle,  unsafe  in  practice 
and  contrary  to  the  best  interests  of  both  our 
dealers  and  ourselves,  do  hereby  agree  to  discon- 
tinue and  cease  to  allow  interest,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  for  any  and  all  deposits  made  with  us 
on  and  after  the  first  day  of  June,  1858,  and  to  dis- 
continue the  allowance  of  interest  on  all  the  de- 
posit accounts  then  standing  upon  our  books  for 
which  interest  may  have  been  previously  paid, 
provided  that  all  the  banks  belonging  to  the  New 
York  Clearing  House  Association  shall  have  on  or 
before  that  date  entered  into  and  become  bound 
by  this  agreement,  and  due  notice  given  thereof. 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

We  do  also  agree  that  we  will  not  exchange 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  bank 
located  and  doing  business  as  aforesaid,  that  shall 
violate  or  evade  this  agreement  or  any  part  there- 
of, except  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  majority 
of  the  banks  bound  by  the  agreement,  in  which 
case  this  agreement  shall  become  null  and  void 
and  be  no  longer  binding  upon  any  of  the  parties 
hereto,  and  we  do  also  agree  that  we  will  not 
vote  for  nor  consent  to  the  admission  of  any  bank 
hereafter  to  the  New  York  Clearing  House  As- 
sociation until  such  bank  shall  have  entered  into 
and  become  bound  by  this  agreement. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

DISPUTE    WITH    THE    CLEARING    HOUSE 

A  second  distinction  of  uniqueness  was  conferred 
upon  the  Chemical  Bank  in  i860.  There  began 
another  and  much  more  severe  financial  upheaval 
which  lasted  longer  than  the  one  of  three  years  be- 
fore; and  in  consequence  of  again  living  up  to  its 
nickname  of  "Old  Bullion,"  the  Chemical  Bank 
was  denied  the  privileges  of  the  Clearing  House 
during  a  period  of  three  and  a  half  months.  This 
unprecedented  situation  was  a  result  of  the  at- 
tempt of  the  Associated  Banks  to  pool  all  their 
specie  and  reserve  for  mutual  protection. 

The  trouble  is  explained  by  the  report  which  a 
committee  presented  before  a  meeting  of  bank 
officers  in  the  American  Exchange  Bank,  Novem- 
ber 27,  i860: 

The  committee  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  two 
banks  which  were  not  represented  at  the  meeting 
of  bank  officers  held  on  the  21st  of  November  and 
to  invite  their  concurrence  in  the  agreement  then 
entered  into  by  all  the  other  banks  in  the  City  of 
New  York  for  the  relief  of  the  business  community 
by  the  extension  of  loans  and  discounts  and  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  the  settlement  of  exchanges 
between  the  banks,  first  called  on  the  president  of 

53 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  HANK 

the-    Mercantile    Bank,    who    very    promptly    and 

cordially  agreed  to  enter  into  the  agreement. 
They  then  waited  on  the  president  of  the  Chemical 
Bank,  and  extended  him  the  same  invitation.  1  [e 
replied  thai  he  would  be  willing  to  adopl  that  por- 
tion of  the  agreement  thai  related  to  the  settle- 
menl  of  the  exchanges  a1  the  Clearing  House  by 
means  of  loan  certificates,  but  positively  declined 
to  participate  otherwise  in  the  arrangement, 
Your  committee  urged  his  compliance  by  all  rca 
sonable  consideration,  bul  without  avail. 
Very  respect  fully  submitted  by 

Geo.  S.  Coe, 

A.  V.  Stout, 

Jas.  Gallatin. 


Committee. 


What  a  disturbance  this  report  created  can  be 
judged  by  the  unanimous  and  immediate  adop- 
tion of  the  following  preamble  ami  resolution  by 
the  bankers  assembled: 

Whereas:    The  banks  of  the  City  of  New  York, 

as  a  measure  of  relief  to  the  business  community 
in  ;i   lime  of  great    financial  distress,  have  adopted 

an  agreement  for  mutual  support  and  protection, 
and  in  so  doing,  in  consideration  o\  great  good  to 
be  accomplished,  have  yielded  whatever  advan- 
tages of  position  any  ol  them  may  have  possessed 
over  the  others;  and,  IT  hrrras,  this  agreement  has 

been  approved  and  entered  upon  by  every  bank  in 
the  City  ol  New  York  with  the  single  exception 

ol    the   Chemical    Bank;   and,    II  hrrrds,    that    bank 

will  share  equally  with  the  others  in  the  benefits 

arising  from  the  measures  adopted;  ami,  U'/irrras, 
this   agreement    in    its    practical    operations   so   af- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  55 

fects  the  details  of  the  Clearing  House  as  to  render 
an  exceptional  case  greatly  annoying  and  incon- 
venient; and,  Whereas,  there  is  no  obligation  of 
duty,  which  has  moved  the  great  body  of  bank 
officers  in  this  trying  emergency,  which  does  not 
bear  equally  upon  the  bank  in  question,  therefore, 

Resolved:  That,  while  we  hold  its  officers  per- 
sonally in  high  esteem,  a  proper  official  self- 
respect  requires  that,  after  allowing  that  bank 
time  for  further  consideration,  we  should,  unless 
they  unite  with  us,  withhold  from  it  the  ordinary 
interchange  of  business,  and  we  therefore  agree 
that  after  Saturday,  the  1st  day  of  December  next, 
no  bank  which  is  a  party  to  the  agreement  will 
receive  on  deposit  or  in  payment  of  notes,  at  its 
counter,  checks  drawn  on  the  Chemical  Bank,  and 
that  no  check  on  that  bank  will  be  collected  by 
either  of  us  through  the  Clearing  House. 

Resolved:  That  a  copy  of  this  preamble  and 
resolution  be  sent  by  the  secretary  to  the  Chemi- 
cal Bank. 

The  boycott,  as  it  were,  against  the  Chemical 
continued  from  November  27th  of  i860  until 
March  15th  of  the  next  year,  when  the  Clearing 
House  reconsidered  its  vote  of  suspension  of 
privileges. 

A  curious  chapter  of  history!  and  an  extraordi- 
nary bank  —  the  only  one  ever  discriminated 
against  by  the  Clearing  House  simply  because  of  a 
difference  of  opinion  on  a  question  of  financial 
policy! 

As  to  public  opinion,  that  varied.  There  was 
some   condemnation  of  the  Chemical,   but   there 


56  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

was  also  a  strong  feeling  that  its  standard  had 
been  raised  even  higher,  that  it  was  entitled  to 
rank  as  a  safer  and  more  wisely  managed  institu- 
tion than  ever. 

A  curious  light  on  the  opinion  of  the  day  is 
thrown  by  "a  stockholder  of  seven  banks  but  not 
of  the  Chemical,"  in  his  letter  to  a  daily  paper  of 
December  4,  i860: 

The  stockholders  of  other  banks  do  not  under- 
stand the  wisdom  of  the  gratuitous  advertising  of 
the  Chemical.  The  credit  of  this  bank  is  high 
enough  without  any  assistance,  and  we  cannot 
understand  why  the  public  should  be  informed  by 
the  Associated  Bank  Presidents  that  this  is  the 
only  bank  in  New  York  which  felt  sure  of  its 
ability  to  sustain  itself  and  collect  its  assets 
promptly,  no  matter  how  severe  the  pressure  or 
intense  the  panic. 

A  practical  explanation  was  offered  by  the 
Journal  of  Commerce  on  December  5,  i860: 

The  fact  is,  simply,  that  the  Chemical  Bank, 
occupying  a  very  strong  position,  in  its  assets, 
both  as  regards  specie  and  bills  receivable,  de- 
clined to  join  the  other  banks  in  their  arrangement 
for  mutual  aid  and  protection  made  two  weeks 
or  more  since  and  has  therefore  been  excluded 
from  the  Clearing  House.  Its  bills  are  not  taken 
on  deposit  nor  its  certified  checks  recognized  at 
other  banks.  This  does  not  appear  to  disturb 
the  Chemical  much,  and  it  replies  in  classic 
language: 


c 

pi 

2: 


< 


DC 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  57 

Banished  the  House!  What's  banished  but  set 
free  from  daily  contact  with  the  things  I  loathe! 

After  all,  people's  confidence  in  the  safety  of  a 
bank  can  hardly  be  disputed  if  they  leave  money 
in  it.  The  Chemical's  deposits  on  June  30,  i860, 
were  $2,330,000.  By  April  27th  of  the  next  year 
they  had  grown  more  than  50  per  cent. —  to 
$3,510,000.  The  undivided  profits  had  increased 
from  $663,382  to  $719,397.  Here  was  a  ratio  of 
net  profits  to  capital  of  $329.77  —  the  highest  in 
the  city. 

All  this  within  five  months  after  the  Bank  had 
been  suspended  by  the  Clearing  House! 

No  wonder  that  the  stock  of  the  Chemical  had 
already,  in  i860,  reached  $425  bid,  thereby  com- 
manding the  highest  price  of  any  bank  stock  in 
New  York  City. 

A  generation  ago  the  Bank  was  less  of  an  in- 
stitution than  it  is  to-day.  During  a  period  of 
war  and  disturbance  there  was  naturally  fear  of  en- 
trusting one's  savings  to  any  institution.  In  spite 
of  this,  the  Chemical  was  able  to  continue  its  divi- 
dends of  24  per  cent,  throughout  the  war  period. 

The  employees  of  the  Bank  were  not  forgotten 
in  this  prosperity.  All  of  the  staff  who  enlisted 
in  the  army  received  regular  salaries  and  found 
their  old  positions  awaiting  them  upon  their  re- 
turn, and  the  same  offer  was  made  to  those  clerks 
who  were  members  of  the  National  Guard  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Spanish  War  in  1898. 


58  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

The  changes  of  this  epoch  included  the  election 
of  the  cashier,  George  G.  Williams,  to  the  direc- 
torate March  21,  1864.  He  took  the  place  of 
Robert  L.  Stuart,  who  declined  to  qualify  after 
having  been  elected  on  March  I4th,in  consequence 
of  the  resignation  of  Bradish  Johnson.  Mr.  John- 
son's resignation  had  been  accepted  with  great 
reluctance  the  October  previous.  On  April  27th 
of  that  year  (1863)  James  A.  Roosevelt  had  been 
secured  to  assume  the  duties  of  Cornelius  V.  S. 
Roosevelt,  his  father,  whose  ill  health  had  forced 
him  to  resign. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  directors,  with  Presi- 
dent John  Q.  Jones,  were  John  D.  Wolfe,  Robert 
McCoskry,  James  A.  Roosevelt,  and  George  G. 
Williams. 


CHAPTER  IX 

HUNDRED    PER    CENT.    DIVIDENDS    THROUGH 
THE    PANIC    OF     1 873 

The  directors  of  the  Chemical  Bank  thought  favor- 
ably of  the  opportunity  to  extend  their  activities 
which  was  created  by  the  passage  of  the  National 
Currency  Act  of  1864.  They  announced  on  June 
9,  1865,  that  it  was  "expedient  to  change  the  or- 
ganization to  that  of  an  institution  to  be  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  United  States."  Here  is  the 
resolution  upon  the  Bank's  minutes  of  the  same 
day: 

Resolved:  That  the  Chemical  Bank,  in  becom- 
ing a  National  Banking  Association  under  the  act 
of  Congress  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  a  Na- 
tional Currency  secured  by  a  pledge  of  United 
States  bonds  and  to  provide  for  the  circulation  and 
redemption  thereof"  —  approved  June  3,  1864  — 
hereby  consents  and  agrees  to  waive  the  rights  of 
said  Bank  to  circulation  in  excess  of  one  third  the 
amount  of  its  capital  under  the  present  laws  limit- 
ing the  entire  circulation  of  national  banks  to 
three  hundred  million  of  dollars. 

Provided  that  this  agreement  shall  not  prej- 
udice the  rights  of  the  Bank  under  any  subse- 
quent legislation  whereby  the  limit  of  circulation 

59 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

may    be    extended    or    prevent    any    subsequent 
agreement  with  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency 
which  circumstances  may  render  practicable. 
Approved  by  the  Board. 

The  new  charter  was  secured  and  dated  August 
ist.  Fifteen  days  later  the  new  Board  held  its 
first  meeting,  with  President  Jones  and  Directors 
Wolfe  and  Williams  present.  A  month  later  the 
customary  quarterly  dividend  of  6  per  cent,  was 
declared,  together  with  the  Government  tax. 

The  first  election  of  a  Chemical  Bank  president 
to  the  presidency  of  the  New  York  Clearing  House 
took  place  in  October.  The  Associated  Banks 
then  numbered  fifty-five.  Five  years  later,  when 
Mr.  Jones  was  elected  for  the  last  time,  the  or- 
ganization included  seventy-one  banks. 

The  closing  years  of  Mr.  Jones's  life  and  ac- 
tivities as  the  Chemical's  head  yield  a  chronicle  of 
uninterrupted  advance  in  its  prosperity.  The 
stock,  which  had  been  $300  bid  in  1861,  rose  to 
$500  bid  and  $600  asked  in  January,  1866,  and  to 
$800  in  1868.  The  profits,  in  January  of  1866, 
were  #1,113,314;  two  years  later  they  were 
#1,839,079;  and  in  1871,  #2,357,000  —  the  de- 
posits passing  the  five-million-dollar  mark. 

As  a  remarkable  example  of  successful  banking 
on  a  capital  of  #300,000,  there  was  public  reference 
to  the  Bank's  statement  of  March  18,1871.  The 
deposits  were  #6,081,515,  and  the  loans  only 
#4,271,918.  Undivided  profits  were  #1,272,000, 
and  the  surplus  fund  was  #1,000,000. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  61 

More  and  more  attention  was  constantly  being 
directed  to  the  extraordinary  success  of  the  Bank. 
On  January  5,  1875,  the  Boston  Post  commented 
on  the  rise  of  the  stock  in  ten  years  from  $400 
to  $1,500  a  share,  as  follows: 

The  Chemical  is  a  close  corporation.  It  issues 
no  bills.  It  makes  no  flourish  of  trumpets,  but 
what  is  better,  it  makes  money.  The  old  alche- 
mists sought  the  art  of  turning  baser  metals  into 
gold,  but  it  never  reached  success.  The  Chemi- 
cal Bank,  however,  must  have  learned  the  secret, 
for  its  shares,  which  once  were  quoted  at  $100, 
now  bring  fifteen  times  that  price.  Mr.  Jones 
certainly  must  have  found  the  philosopher's  stone. 

Again  the  personnel  of  the  directors  changed: 
In  May,  1867,  Mr.  Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt, 
having  recovered  his  health,  resumed  the  place 
that  Mr.  James  A.  Roosevelt  had  been  holding. 
The  loss  of  one  of  the  most  valued  directors  who 
had  served  continuously  for  twenty-three  years 
occurred  in  the  death  of  Robert  McCoskry.  Mr. 
James  A.  Roosevelt  was  secured  to  fill  the  vacancy, 
the  meeting  for  that  purpose  being  held  at  the 
residence  of  Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt,  Broadway 
and  Fourteenth  Street.  The  last-named  gentleman 
again  found  the  strain  of  his  position  too  much  for 
his  health,  and  two  years  later  Mr.  John  H.  Adam 
was  elected  in  his  place.  In  1871  Mr.  Adam 
gave  way  to  Mr.  Frederic  W.  Stevens. 

An  exploit  of  private  enterprise  which  proved 
of  public  service  was  performed  by  the  Chemical 


62  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Bank  during  the  panic  of  1873.  Its  dividend  had 
been  increased  from  24  to  36  per  cent,  in  1866, 
four  years  later  to  40  per  cent.,  and  one  year  after 
that  to  60  per  cent.  It  was  in  1873,  when  in- 
dustrial depression,  public  consternation,  and 
financial  ruin  had  plunged  the  entire  nation  into 
gloom,  that  a  veritable  beacon-light  of  returning 
confidence  was  cast  upon  the  land  with  the  Chemi- 
cal Bank's  declaration  of  a  dividend  at  the  un- 
precedented proportion  of  100  per  cent.  —  a 
fitting  deed  for  the  commemoration  of  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  Bank's  founding  through  the 
old  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company! 
From  Statement  of  December  31,  1872: 

Capital $300,000 

Surplus 1,000,000 

Profit  and  Loss 1,820,000 

Deposits $5,500,000 

Price  of  stock  $1,200. 

The  attainment  of  such  splendid  results  in  so 
short  a  period  stands,  it  is  believed,  without  paral- 
lel in  banking  history.  It  was  therefore  with 
pride  and  amidst  public  admiration  that  President 
John  Quentin  Jones  prepared  to  enter  upon  the 
year  1878,  his  thirty-fourth  in  the  Bank's  service. 
On  Saturday,  December  28th,  he  remained  at  the 
Bank  attending  to  business  as  usual  until  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  But  he  was  suddenly 
attacked  by  a  fatal  illness,  and  closed  his  busy 
and  useful  life  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year  — 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  63 

the  oldest  bank  president  in  term  of  office  in  the 
city.  The  next  morning  a  tribute  was  paid  to  his 
achievements  and  himself  by  the  following  article 
in  the  New  York  World: 

The  fact  that  the  Chemical  Bank  did  not  sus- 
pend specie  payments  either  in  the  panic  of  1857 
or  in  the  general  disaster  of  1861,  and  that  it  con- 
tinued to  redeem  its  pledges  in  gold  for  twelve 
years  after  the  Government  had  begun  to  dis- 
honor the  demand  notes  of  the  nation,  is  more  elo- 
quent than  columns  of  rhetoric  in  rebuke  of  the 
hand-to-mouth  politicians  who  are  perpetually 
juggling  with  the  public  faith  and  credit  in  the 
interest  of  their  own  miserable  political  schemes. 

When  he  is  confronted  with  a  business  enter- 
prise which  has  prospered  for  more  than  a  genera- 
tion, which  has  increased  the  value  of  its  capital 
stock  sixteen  fold,  which  has  displayed  greater 
sensitiveness  and  a  finer  sense  of  honor  in  dealing 
with  its  creditors  than  the  nation  itself,  and  which 
holds  the  foremost  place  in  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  New  York  to-day  and  stands  as  one  of 
the  few  unshaken  landmarks  among  the  drifting 
currents  and  fluctuating  tides  of  financial  specu- 
lation, not  even  Bland  himself  will  have  the  hardi- 
hood to  deny  that  it  is  in  the  best  and  broadest 
sense  a  success. 

From  the  beginning,  the  managers  of  this  Bank 
acted  on  the  principle  that  the  first  duty  of  a 
bank,  as  of  a  man  in  business,  is  to  be  honest, 
sound,  and  strong,  and  that  the  only  true  source 
of  a  real  financial  prosperity  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
well-deserved  confidence  of  the  public. 

We  may  apply  to  them  the  language  of  Words- 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

worth  in  regard  to  the  great  architects  of  the 
middle  ages,  they  dreamt  not  of  a  perishable  bank. 
They  looked  upon  a  bank  as  a  machine  for  the 
safe  investment  of  capital  and  not  a  patent  in- 
vention for  pumping  the  money  of  Peter  into  the 
speculations  of  Paul.  The  late  president  of  the 
institution  did  more  probably  than  any  other  man 
in  the  direction  to  shape  its  course  and  keep  it 
steady  on  the  track  of  sound  financial  principles. 


CHAPTER  X 

A    QUARTER    CENTURY    OF    PROSPERITY 
UNDER    GEORGE    G.    WILLIAMS 

On  the  second  day  of  the  year  1878  the  Chemical 
National  Bank  elected  as  president  a  man  who  had 
already  been  a  factor  in  its  growth  for  thirty-six 
years,  and  who  was  destined  to  lead  it  during 
twenty-five  more  to  such  a  point  of  resources  and 
power  as  could  hardly  have  been  conceived  at  the 
time  of  his  election,  even  by  George  G.  Williams 
himself. 

The  quarter  century  ending  in  1903  brought  to 
our  country  an  industrial  growth  such  as  the  world 
had  never  beheld  before.  A  new  South  had  risen 
from  the  ashes  of  the  old,  to  become  an  active 
competitor  of  the  North  in  commerce  and  manu- 
facture. The  methods  of  the  industrial  world 
became  immeasurably  more  rapid  and  labor  saving. 
In  the  West,  thousands  of  miles  of  new  railroads 
opened  up  homes  for  millions  of  new  settlers. 
Every  wave  of  prosperity  brought  new  corpora- 
tions and  trust  companies,  of  capitalization  larger 
than  the  former  age  could  have  imagined  possible. 

Yet  there  were  setbacks  for  the  nation,  particu- 
larly in   1881,   1884,   1890  and  1893;  and  the  tri- 

6s 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

worth  in  regard  to  the  great  architects  of  the 
middle  ages,  they  dreamt  not  of  a  perishable  bank. 
They  looked  upon  a  bank  as  a  machine  for  the 
safe  investment  of  capital  and  not  a  patent  in- 
vention for  pumping  the  money  of  Peter  into  the 
speculations  of  Paul.  The  late  president  of  the 
institution  did  more  probably  than  any  other  man 
in  the  direction  to  shape  its  course  and  keep  it 
steady  on  the  track  of  sound  financial  principles. 


CHAPTER  X 

A    QUARTER    CENTURY    OF    PROSPERITY 
UNDER    GEORGE    G.    WILLIAMS 

On  the  second  day  of  the  year  1878  the  Chemical 
National  Bank  elected  as  president  a  man  who  had 
already  been  a  factor  in  its  growth  for  thirty-six 
years,  and  who  was  destined  to  lead  it  during 
twenty-five  more  to  such  a  point  of  resources  and 
power  as  could  hardly  have  been  conceived  at  the 
time  of  his  election,  even  by  George  G.  Williams 
himself. 

The  quarter  century  ending  in  1903  brought  to 
our  country  an  industrial  growth  such  as  the  world 
had  never  beheld  before.  A  new  South  had  risen 
from  the  ashes  of  the  old,  to  become  an  active 
competitor  of  the  North  in  commerce  and  manu- 
facture. The  methods  of  the  industrial  world 
became  immeasurably  more  rapid  and  labor  saving. 
In  the  West,  thousands  of  miles  of  new  railroads 
opened  up  homes  for  millions  of  new  settlers. 
Every  wave  of  prosperity  brought  new  corpora- 
tions and  trust  companies,  of  capitalization  larger 
than  the  former  age  could  have  imagined  possible. 

Yet  there  were  setbacks  for  the  nation,  particu- 
larly in   1881,   1884,   1890  and   1893;  and  the  tri- 

65 


6s  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

afterward  declared  that  the  case  was  one  of 
necessity  that  admits  of  no  rule,  just  as  during 
the  Civil  War,  when  the  banks  were  unable  to 
carry  the  war  loans. 

"During  those  trying  times,"  Mr.  Williams 
stated  on  his  retiring  from  the  Clearing  House 
presidency  in  1894,  "the  one  conspicuous  object 
looked  to  for  relief,  aside  from  Congress,  was  the 
New  York  Clearing  House." 

Again,  during  the  "sound  money"  agitation  of 
1896,  the  influence  of  the  Chemical  Bank  and  of 
its  president  was  vigorously  thrown  toward  the 
maintenance  of  the  gold  standard.  Before  the 
Monetary  Commission  in  Washington  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, during  the  next  year,  repeated  his  frequent 
statements  of  the  past,  that  silver  circulation 
should  be  maintained  beyond  question  on  a  parity 
with  gold.  His  conviction  was  so  firm  that  he 
declared  Congress  ought  to  pass  an  act  ruling  that 
the  word  "coin"  on  all  United  States  bonds  should 
be  interpreted  "gold." 

The  seizure  of  every  legitimate  means  for  the 
financial  development  of  the  Chemical  Bank 
enabled  President  Williams,  in  1888,  ten  years 
after  his  election,  to  declare  a  dividend  unparalleled 
in  the  banking  history  of  the  world — 150  per 
cent,  payable  bi-monthly.  The  amount  has  been 
maintained  without  change  up  to  the  time  this 
history  closes,  though  the  rate  per  share  was  of 
course  changed  when  the  capital  was  increased 
from  #300,000  to  #3,000,000  in  1907. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  69 

The  rise  in  the  price  of  the  stock  was  extra- 
ordinary. It  had  advanced  from  $2,200  in  1884 
to  $4,000  in  1888.  A  contemporary  notice  of 
bank  stock  sales  ran  as  follows: 

That  fat-laden  article,  Chemical  Bank  stock, 
waddled  out  into  sight  long  enough  to  sell  itself  to 
the  extent  of  ten  shares.  The  Bank  is  a  phenom- 
enon for  which  the  commercial  world  has  no  match. 
Of  $23,269,000  deposits,  about  $18,000,000  is  in- 
dividual deposits.  It  is  the  Bank  of  the  Vander- 
bilts,  Goelets,  Lenoxes,  and  Kennedys.  It  is  the 
Bank  of  the  Gods,  the  Olympus  of  Broadway. 

The  records  show  that  twenty  shares  were  sold 
in  January  of  the  next  year  at  $4,195,  and  in 
November  at  $4,500.  Finally,  on  April  30,  1895, 
came  the  high  record  for  this  and  for  all  other 
bank  stocks  in  the  world  up  to  that  time,  two 
shares  being  sold  on  the  Real  Estate  Exchange 
at  the  price  per  share  of  $4,900. 

Of  the  men  at  President  Williams's  right  hand 
during  this  astonishing  growth  there  was  first  of 
all  William  J.  Quinlan,  the  cashier,  who  took  the 
position  when  Mr.  Williams  was  elected  president, 
and  Jacob  C.  Parsons,  who  was  appointed  second 
vice-president  on  February  2,  1898. 

The  first  directors  of  President  Williams's 
regime  were,  besides  himself,  James  A.  Roosevelt 
(elected  vice-president  May  12,  1890),  Frederic 
W.  Stevens,  Robert  L.  Kennedy,  who  succeeded 
John  D.  Wolfe  at  the  latter's  death  in  1872,  and 
Robert  Goelet. 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

On  January  r,  1899,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  it  secured  the 
services  of  an  active  vice-president.  Little  by 
little  burdens  had  been  heaped  upon  the  head  of 
the  president  beyond  the  physical  powers  of  any 
one  man.  Therefore  Mr.  Williams  called  William 
H.  Porter,  his  trusted  friend,  and  one  of  the 
youngest  banking  men  in  the  city,  from  the  vice- 
presidency  of  the  Chase  National  Bank,  on  Jan- 
uary 1st.  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Porter  was  elected 
director,  whereby  the  Board  was  made  to  consist 
of  six  instead  of  five  members. 

For  a  little  less  than  four  years  and  a  half 
Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Porter  shared  their 
duties.  About  the  beginning  of  May,  1903, 
Mr.  Williams's  almost  daily  visits  to  the  Bank 
had  to  cease  and  he  was  confined  to  his  home 
at  34  West  Fifty-eighth  Street.  His  advanced  age — 
seventy-seven  —  rendered  him  unable  to  resist  the 
attacks  of  a  swift  illness;  and  on  the  7th  of 
May  he  ended  his  earthly  career  of  such  splendid 
achievement. 

A  tribute  to  the  rare  confidence  felt  by  the  di- 
rectors in  his  judgment  was  the  permission,  of 
which  Mr.  Williams  had  availed  himself,  to  name 
not  only  his  own  assistant  during  the  closing  years 
of  his  own  activity,  but  also  his  successor  in  the 
presidency.  According  to  his  wishes,  the  direc- 
tors, at  their  meeting  on  May  nth,  after  adopting 
resolutions  in  memory  of  their  departed  president 
and  leader,  elected  William  H.  Porter  the  head  of 


CARVED  PEDIMENT 
ON  THE  RAILING  IN  THE  OLD  BANK 


OLD-TIME   LOCK 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  71 

the  Chemical  National  Bank,  being  the  sixth  presi- 
dent in  its  eighty  years  of  existence. 

Throughout  the  entire  country,  wherever  there 
were  men  who  realized  the  benefit  to  the  nation 
of  Mr.  Williams's  sound  example  and  his  fight  for 
sound  money,  the  grief  was  intense  at  the  news  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  within  a  few  days  of 
the  death  of  Frederick  D.  Tappen,  an  intimate 
associate  of  Mr.  Williams  in  the  fight  for  sound 
money.  Following  is  one  of  the  many  tributes 
paid  at  the  time: 

Mr.  Williams  was  a  great  banker  without  being 
in  the  least  sensational.  The  removal  of  two  such 
men  as  Mr.  Tappen  and  Mr.  Williams  is  an  al- 
most incalculable  loss  to  sound  banking  in  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Williams's  quiet  perfor- 
mance of  the  task  of  managing  one  of  the  most 
successful  and  profitable  banks  in  the  entire 
world  was  calculated  to  speak  for  itself  and  to 
indicate  to  every  one  who  studied  the  situation 
the  difference  between  sober,  scientific  banking 
and  the  so-called  up-to-date,  speculative  bank- 
ing. 

After  an  administration  characterized  by  con- 
servatism, energy,  and  a  broad  intelligence  in  the 
handling  of  its  affairs,  Mr.  William  H.  Porter 
tendered  his  resignation  as  president  in  December, 
1910,  to  accept  a  partnership  in  the  firm  of  J.  P. 
Morgan  &  Co.  During  the  twelve  years  of  his 
connection  with  the  bank  the  institution  con- 
tinued its  usual  rate  of  growth,  and  the  surplus 


72  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

and  undivided  profits  at  the  time  of  his  retirement 
were  #6,500,000. 

His  successor  was  Mr.  J.  B.  Martindale,  the 
present  head  of  the  Bank,  who  had  entered  its 
service  as  a  junior  clerk  in  May,  1878.  He  had 
been  appointed  assistant  cashier  on  December  24, 
1902,  vice-president  in  January,  1907,  and  on 
the  resignation  of  Mr.  Porter  was  elected  to  the 
position  of  president. 

At  the  time  of  going  to  press  the  officers  of  the 
Bank  are  as  follows: 

J.  B.  Martindale,  President. 

H.  K.  Twitchell,  Vice-President. 

Francis  Halpin,  Cashier. 

Jas.  L.  Parson,  Assistant  Cashier. 

Edward  H.  Smith,  Assistant  Cashier. 

The  present  directors  are: 

Frederic  W.  Stevens,  W.  Emlen  Roosevelt, 

Augustus  D.  Juilliard,  Robert  Walton  Goelet, 

Henry  P.  Davison,  William  H.  Porter, 

Charles  Cheney,  Jos.  B.  Martindale, 

Herbert  K.  Twitchell 

Mr.  Twitchell,  who  had  been  assistant  cashier 
in  the  Chase  National  Bank,  was  appointed  to 
the  same  position  in  the  Chemical  Bank  on  January 
9,  1907,  and  appointed  vice-president  on  January 
9,  191 1.  Mr.  Halpin,  who  entered  the  Bank  in 
1869,  was  appointed  assistant  cashier  in  1890,  and 
cashier,  on  the  resignation  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Quinlan, 
on  February  1,  1898.     Mr.  James  L.  Parson,  whose 


I 


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STRONG  BOX  OF   1850 


OLD-TIME  PADLOCK 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  73 

connection  with  the  Bank  dates  back  to  1874,  was 
appointed  assistant  cashier  February  16,  1898,  and 
Mr.  Smith,  who  came  from  the  firm  of  Kountze 
Bros,  to  the  Bank  in  May,  1883,  was  appointed 
assistant  cashier  January  9,  1907. 

Thus,  the  present  administration  of  the  Chemical 
National  Bank,  trained  under  the  former  heads  of 
the  institution,  has  taken  as  its  example  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  Bank's  affairs  such  men  as  John  Mason, 
John  Quentin  Jones,  George  G.  Williams,  William 
H.  Porter,  and  others  to  whom  the  Chemical 
to-day  owes  its  position  in  the  world  of  finance. 


PART  II 
MEN  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


JOHN  MASON 


CHAPTER  I 

JOHN    MASON,     I774 -1839 
IN    THE    SERVICE    OF    THE    CHEMICAL    BANK    I83I-1839 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  prominent 
figure  in  the  commerical  life  of  New  York  dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  A  typical 
self-made  man  of  the  old  school,  he  built  up  by  his 
own  efforts  a  fortune  which  was  considered  munifi- 
cent in  those  days. 

Financial  power,  however,  never  sullied  his 
innate  modesty  and  kindly  disposition.  After 
his  death  many  in  the  lowlier  walks  of  life  rose 
up  to  add  their  tribute  to  his  memory,  in  appre- 
ciation of  the  sympathy  and  help  given  in  times 
of  need.  One,  who  had  evidently  enjoyed  inti- 
mate friendship  with  Mr.  Mason,  contributed  to  a 
daily  paper,  shortly  after  his  decease,  this  pleasing 
picture  of  his  though tfulness  for  others: 

When  some  time  since,  a  great  number  of  poor, 
forlorn  emigrants  were  cast  upon  our  shores  and 
various  impediments,  for  various  causes,  were  con- 
trived to  prevent  or  retard  their  admission  to  this 
country  of  their  adoption  and  their  choice,  John 
Mason  stepped  forward  and  by  a  liberal  donation 
contributed  to  soften  the  rigor  of  their  destiny 

77 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

and  to  convince  them  that  in  this  boasted  land  of 
liberty  there  was  one  feeling  heart  to  appreciate 
their  distress  and  administer  to  their  comfort. 
Since  then  he  has  repeatedly  told  the  writer  of 
this  article  that  as  God  had  blessed  him  with  abun- 
dance, he  considered  it  his  bounden  duty  to 
alleviate  the  distress  of  his  fellow  beings,  and  en- 
treated that  when  circumstances  occurred  where 
his  means  might  be  useful  he  might  be  applied  to. 
On  a  late  occasion,  after  his  return  from  the  Vir- 
ginia Springs,  on  the  writer's  telling  him  of  a 
promising  youth  who  required  patronage  and 
pecuniary  assistance  in  furtherance  of  his  educa- 
tion, his  reply  was:  "Call  on  me  when  you  come 
to  town,  and  we  will  see  what  can  be  done." 

Little  is  known  of  Mr.  Mason's  early  life  be- 
yond the  fact  that  he  was  born  in  Taunton,  Mass., 
in  1774. 

The  New  York  Transcript  published  a  series  of 
memoirs  of  prominent  New  Yorkers,  in  1836,  and 
its  character  sketch  of  John  Mason  can  hardly  be 
improved  upon: 

He  began  life  as  a  poor  boy  and  by  the  dint  of  his 
own  exertions  became  a  man  of  influence,  stand- 
ing, and  wealth.  There  is,  we  are  sorry  to  say, 
a  false  shame  among  some  individuals  inducing 
them  to  blush  for  the  means  by  which  they  ac- 
quired their  wealth  and  exposing  them  to  the 
ridicule  of  those  who  know  their  origin  and  laugh 
at  them  for  their  absurdity  in  concealing  it.  The 
subject  of  this  memoir  is  not  one  of  them  and,  al- 
though moving  in  the  good  society  of  the  city,  his 
modesty  and  good  sense  never  allow  him  to  be 


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CHF.MICAL  BANK   CHECKS 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  79 

wanting  in  that  self-respect  in  which  those  are 
deficient  who  look  back  upon  their  former  re- 
spectable avocations  with  regret  or  who  are  an- 
noyed by  any  allusions  to  them.  On  the  contrary, 
he  abounds  in  anecdotes  respecting  his  early  years 
and  delights  to  indulge  in  reminiscences  of  the 
events  by  which  they  were  characterized. 

John  Mason's  name  first  appears  in  the  New 
York  Directory  for  the  year  1796,  when  the  firm 
of  Mason  &  Sharp  is  mentioned  as  a  "dry  goods 
store,  80  William  Street,  cor.  Maiden  Lane."  The 
following  year  John  Mason's  name  appears  alone 
as  "merchant,  208  Broadway."  In  1798  he 
moved  to  84  William  Street,  remaining  there  until 
1800,  when  he  returned  to  his  former  locality  at 
80  William  Street.  He  stayed  there  until  1804, 
when  the  firm  of  Mason  &  Smedes  was  formed  at 
178  Pearl  Street.  The  partner  was  Abraham  K. 
Smedes,  but  in  1809  the  latter's  name  ceases  to 
appear,  and  in  18 10  the  firm  is  John  Mason  &  Co., 
still  at  the  same  place. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Mason  had  risen  to  be  one  of 
the  acknowledged  leaders  of  those  worthies  now 
reverently  referred  to  as  "the  old  New  York 
merchants."  The  first  mention  of  his  residence 
at  337  Broadway,  between  Worth  (then  Anthony) 
and  Leonard  streets,  is  found  in  the  Directory  of 
181 1.  This  was  one  of  the  fashionable  residen- 
tial localities,  and  for  neighbors  Mr.  Mason  had 
several  of  the  wealthiest  merchants  in  the  city. 
Next  door,  at  339,  lived  B.  C.  Minturn,  of  the  big 


80  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

shipping  firm  Grinnell,  Minturn  &  Co.,  and  later 
the  same  house  was  occupied  by  John  G.  Warren, 
a  leading  Wall  Street  broker.  Just  below,  at 
335,  lived  Myndert  Van  Schaick,  of  the  old  John 
Hone  &  Sons  firm.  Others  in  the  block  were 
Thomas  Stagg,  Jr.,  John  H.  Howland,  Robert 
Troup,  James  Heard,  William  Denning  and  Jacob 
Le  Roy. 

Although  the  War  of  1812  occasioned  severe 
losses  to  many  merchants,  they  aided  the  Govern- 
ment liberally.  It  reads  strangely  to-day  that 
the  United  States  Government  had  a  hard  time 
in  securing  a  #16,000,000  loan  authorized  by  Con- 
gress early  in  1813.  When,  after  considerable 
delay,  it  was  learned  that  less  than  #4,000,000  had 
been  subscribed  for,  the  merchants  of  the  city  got 
together,  as  they  have  on  so  many  occasions  when 
financial  aid  has  been  needed  either  in  or  out  of  the 
country,  and  in  a  short  time  the  whole  amount 
was  taken  up.  John  Mason  was  one  of  the  active 
workers  in  this  patriotic  endeavor,  and  his  name  is 
on  the  list  for  #5,000.  Isaac  Jones,  the  successor 
of  Mr.  Mason  as  the  Chemical  Bank's  president, 
took  #4,000  of  the  bonds. 

The  Mason  and  Jones  families  were  related 
both  by  business  and  family  ties.  It  is  little 
wonder  that,  in  its  early  years,  the  Chemical 
Bank  appears  somewhat  in  the  light  of  a  family 
enterprise.  Three  of  John  Mason's  daughters 
married  members  of  the  Jones  family,  Mary  and 
Serena  becoming  the  wives  of  two  brothers,  Isaac 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  81 

and  George  Jones  respectively,  both  of  whom  were 
directors  in  the  Bank,  while  the  former  succeeded 
his  father-in-law  as  president.  Sarah  Mason, 
sister  of  John  Mason,  married  Isaac  Jones,  Sr., 
and  became  mother  of  John  Q.  Jones.  Rebecca 
Mason  married  Isaac  Colford  Jones,  a  cousin  of 
Isaac  and  George  Jones.  Another  daughter, 
Sarah,  became  the  wife  of  A.  Gordon  Hamersley, 
who  was  a  large  stockholder  in  the  Bank. 

Up  to  1 8 19  there  was  no  savings  bank  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  The  first  meeting  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  a  necessary  institution  was  held 
late  in  18 16,  by  a  number  of  officers  of  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism.  John  Pin- 
tard,  Thomas  Eddy,  and  John  Murray,  Jr.,  were 
among  its  most  earnest  advocates,  but  for  some 
time  they  had  to  encounter  objections,  both  in  and 
out  of  the  Legislature.  In  18 19,  however,  success 
crowned  their  efforts,  and  on  July  3d  of  that 
year,  Saturday  evening  at  six  o'clock,  the  bank 
opened  its  doors,  occupying  a  modest  little  room 
in  the  basement  of  the  New  York  Institution, 
then  standing  in  the  rear  of  the  City  Hall, 
fronting  on  Chambers  Street.  The  sum  of 
$2,807  was  deposited  that  evening,  $300  being 
the  largest  individual  deposit  and  $2  the  small- 
est. John  Mason  was  one  of  the  original  trustees 
of  the  bank,  and  he  was  present  on  the  opening 
night. 

His  enthusiastic  and  active  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  the  New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad  marks 


82  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

him  as  one  of  the  pioneers  in  New  York  rapid 
transit.  The  company  was  incorporated  on 
April  25,  1 83 1,  with  a  capital  of  #350,000,  which 
was  soon  increased  to  #500,000.  Campbell  P. 
White  was  the  first  president,  and  John  Mason 
the  treasurer.  Mr.  White,  soon  after,  was  elected 
to  Congress,  and  at  the  directors'  meeting  in 
August,  1832,  John  Mason  was  chosen  president. 
John  Lozier  was  vice-president,  A.  C.  Rainetaux 
secretary,  and  among  the  directors  were  Samuel 
Swartwout,  Isaac  Adriance,  Henry  Ogden,  Alex- 
ander Hosack,  Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  and  John  R.  Peters. 

On  February  25,  1832,  ground  was  broken  for 
the  railroad.  The  spot  selected  was  a  rocky 
section  of  Murray  Hill,  in  Fourth  Avenue.  The 
rock  having  been  bored,  thirteen  blasts  were  set 
off  with  true  patriotic  ardor.  John  Mason  made 
a  speech  which  is  said  to  have  been  received  with 
great  cheering,  although  Philip  Hone  remarks, 
in  his  diary,  that  "Mr.  Mason  could  make  money 
better  than  he  could  make  a  speech." 

The  American  Railroad  Journal,  started  in  183 1, 
and  the  first  paper  in  this  country  devoted  solely 
to  railroad  interests,  in  commenting  on  the  events 
of  the  day,  said: 

Thus  commences  a  single  link  in  that  great 
chain  of  internal  improvements  which  is  to  reach 
from  New  York  to  Buffalo  and  which,  without 
fatigue  and  at  moderate  expense,  will  convey  our 
citizens  to  Albany  in  a  few  hours. 


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HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  83 

Meanwhile,  a  line  of  track  was  being  laid  on  the 
Bowery  from  Prince  Street  to  Fourteenth  Street. 
On  November  14,  1832,  this  was  opened  for  traffic 
with  great  eclat.  Two  cars,  drawn  by  horses, 
made  the  trip.  The  car  in  the  van,  which  had  as 
guests  Mayor  Walter  Bowne  and  other  municipal 
worthies,  bore  the  name  of  "John  Mason." 

A  contemporary  account  of  this  first  railroad 
trip  in  New  York  City  will  doubtless  be  interest- 
ing. The  following,  which  describes  the  cars 
somewhat  more  in  detail  than  others,  is  from  the 
New  York  Courier  and  Inquirer  of  November  15, 
1832: 

The  Mayor,  corporation,  etc.,  left  in  carriages 
to  the  depot  near  Union  Square,  where  two  splen- 
did cars,  each  with  two  horses,  were  in  waiting. 
These  cars  are  made  low  with  broad  iron  wheels 
which  fit  the  flanges  of  the  railroad  after  an  im- 
proved model  from  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
cars.  They  resemble  an  omnibus,  or,  rather, 
several  omnibuses  attached  to  each  other,  padded 
with  fine  cloth  and  handsome  glass  windows,  each 
capable  of  containing,  outside  and  inside,  full  forty 
passengers.  The  company  was  soon  seated  and 
the  horses  trotted  off  in  handsome  style  with  great 
ease  at  the  rate  of  about  twelve  miles  an  hour,  fol- 
lowed by  a  number  of  private  barouches  and  horse- 
men. Groups  of  spectators  greeted  the  passengers 
of  the  cars  with  snouts  and  every  window  in  the 
Bowery  was  filled.  The  distance  was  not  far 
from  the  old  residence  farm  of  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant.  Those  who  made  violent  objections  to 
laying  down  these  tracks,  and  fancied  a  thousand 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

dangers  to  the  passing  traveler,  now  look  at  the 
work  with  pleasure  and  surprise. 

The  statement  is  also  made  that  upon  the  com- 
pletion of  the  road  "it  will  make  Harlem  the  sub- 
urb of  New  York." 

Several  interesting  letters  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Evening  Post  in  1858  signed  "Retired  Mer- 
chant." They  dealt  chiefly  with  real  estate 
matters,  and  the  writer  cites  the  fact  that  in  1821 
the  owner  of  the  plot  of  ground  bounded  by  Third 
and  Fourth  avenues,  Fifty-fifth  and  Fifty-sixth 
streets,  offered  it  to  John  Mason  for  $100  an  acre. 
There  were  about  six  acres  and  Mr.  Mason  de- 
clined to  give  more  than  #500,  and  the  sale  was 
not  effected. 

At  the  time  of  his  death,  the  immediate  cause 
of  which  was  heart  disease,  Mr.  Mason  was  living 
at  640  Broadway,  where  he  had  moved  from  his 
lower  Broadway  home  two  years  before.  He  was 
sixty-six  years  of  age  and  had  attended  to  his 
duties  at  the  Bank  up  to  a  few  days  preceding  his 
fatal  illness.  The  funeral  was  held  from  his  late 
residence  on  Sunday  afternoon,  September  29th. 

The  property  left  by  Mr.  Mason  included  many 
Broadway  and  other  "downtown"  parcels,  and 
also  eight  blocks  of  Fifth  Avenue  property,  ex- 
tending through  to  Fourth  Avenue  from  Fifty- 
fourth  to  Sixty-third  Street  with  the  exception  of 
the  block  between  Fifty-sixth  and  Fifty-seventh 
streets,  Fourth  and  Fifth  avenues.     Three  large 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  85 

plots  in  this  section,  each  200  by  920  feet,  Mr. 
Mason  purchased  in  1823  from  the  city  for 
$2,500.  They  are  described  in  the  old  deed  as 
fronting  on  Middle  Road,  now  Fifth  Avenue. 

JOHN    MASON    PROPERTY 

Eight  blocks,  from  Fifty-fourth  to  Sixty-third  Street,  and  Fourth 
to  Fifth  avenues,  except  block  between  Fifty-sixth  and  Fifty-seventh 
streets  and  same  avenues. 

Broadway,  Nos.  337,  632,  636,  638,  640,  and  45  feet  front  on 
southeast  corner  Broadway  and  Fourth  Street. 

Bowery,  Nos.  21  and  126. 

James  Street,  No.  92. 

Cherry  Street,  Nos.  57  and  66. 

Division  Street,  Nos.  75,  76,  78,  79,  80,  81,  82,  84. 

Pearl  Street,  No.   178. 

Gore  of  land  southwest  corner  Lafayette  Place  and  Fourth  Street. 
As  partitioned  1854. 

This  property,  owing  to  litigation  over  the  will 
of  John  Mason,  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  exec- 
utors until  1854.  By  that  time  the  property  had 
increased  enormously  in  value  and  the  heirs  found 
themselves  much  better  off  than  would  have  been 
the  case  had  the  estate  been  divided  in  1839.  The 
Mason,  Jones,  and  Hamersley  families  were  the 
chief  participants  in  the  final  settlement.  The 
court  appointed  as  commissioners  in  the  parti- 
tion Luther  Bradish,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  and 
Anthony  J.  Bleecker. 

In  commenting  upon  John  Mason's  death,  the 
Commercial  Advertiser  of  September  28,  1839,  had 
this  to  say: 


86  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Mr.  Mason  had  so  long  occupied  a  prominent 
station  in  the  business  interests  of  New  York  that 
his  departure  from  among  us  calls  for  something 
more  than  a  simple  announcement.  He  ranked 
among  our  wealthiest  citizens,  having  retired 
several  years  since  from  active  participation  in 
commercial  affairs  with  a  large  fortune  gained  by 
his  own  industry  and  economy,  first  in  mechanical 
and  afterward  in  mercantile  employment.  He  was 
upright  in  character,  simple  and  unostentatious 
in  demeanor,  never  forgetting  that  the  riches  he 
possessed  constituted  no  merit  and  that  his  title 
to  praise  was  in  the  use  he  made  of  them. 


JOHN  QUENTIN  JONES 


IN 


CHAPTER  II 

JOHN    QUENTIN    JONES,      1803-1878 
THE    SERVICE    OF    THE    CHEMICAL    BANK     1834-  1878 


John  Q.  Jones  was  born  in  New  York  City  in 
1803.  The  name  Quentin  reveals  the  Huguenot 
extraction  of  the  family,  the  early  form  being 
Quereau,  which  in  later  years  became  contracted 
into  Carow.  Isaac  Carow,  president  of  the  New 
York  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  1840,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  family.  John  Q.  Jones  entered 
Columbia  College,  but  did  not  remain  long  enough 
to  graduate  with  his  class,  the  commercial  spirit 
of  his  family  drawing  him  away  within  a  year  or 
two  into  active  business  life.  He  took  a  position 
in  the  mercantile  house  of  Lawrence  &  Trimble, 
and  in  1833  he  appears  in  the  New  York  Directory 
as  a  merchant  at  216  Washington  Street,  while  his 
residence  was  at  48  Hudson  Street. 

In  1834  he  was  appointed  factory  agent  of  the 
Chemical  Bank,  a  position  that  was  maintained 
up  to  the  expiration  of  the  charter  of  the  Chemical 
Manufacturing  Company.  With  the  death  of 
Mr.  Mason,  in  1839,  Mr.  Jones  became  cashier  of 
the  Bank  under  the  presidency  of  his  cousin,  Isaac 
Jones.     In  1844,  when  he  himself  succeeded  to  the 

87 


88  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

presidency,  upon  the  granting  of  a  new  charter,  he 
moved  his  city  residence  to  60  Hudson  Street, 
where  he  lived  until  1849,  when  he  purchased 
his  country  home  on  Staten  Island  and  spent 
a  large  part  of  his  time  there  until  he  again  took 
up  a  more  permanent  city  residence  at  246  Fifth 
Avenue. 

Mr.  Jones's  bachelor  life,  his  dislike  for  osten- 
tation, and  his  unremitting  attention  to  the  affairs 
of  the  Chemical  Bank  caused  him,  long  before  he 
could  properly  be  termed  old,  to  be  styled  a  man 
of  unusually  methodical  habits.  It  was,  however, 
this  strict  adherence  to  business,  combined  with 
a  rare  judgment  and  sagacity  in  financial  affairs, 
that  enabled  him  to  witness  the  growth  of  the 
Bank  from  a  non-dividend  paying  institution  in 
1844,  when  he  became  its  president,  to  one  paying 
100  per  cent,  dividends,  while  the  original  one- 
hundred-dollar  shares  had  risen  to  a  value  of 
$1,600  shortly  before  his  death. 

During  his  successful  and  active  life  Mr.  Jones 
had  the  assistance  as  well  as  the  influence  of  some 
of  the  wealthiest  and  most  conservative  business 
men  in  the  city,  men  such  as  C.  V.  S.  Roosevelt, 
Peter  Goelet,  Robert  Goelet,  John  David  Wolfe, 
Robert  McCoskry,  Joseph  Sampson,  James  A. 
Roosevelt,  R.  L.  Stuart,  and  A.  T.  Stewart, 
some  of  whom  were  at  different  times  directors  of 
the  Bank. 

The  honor  of  the  Clearing  House  presidency 
fell    to   Mr.   Jones    in    1865.     He   served   for   six 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  89 

years.     He  had   already  been   a   member  of  the 
Committee  on  Admission,  1854-1859. 

During  the  last  thirty  years  of  Mr.  Jones's  life 
it  was  a  subject  of  general  comment  that  his  daily 
rounds  were  conducted  with  the  regularity  of 
clockwork.  Promptly  at  9:30  in  the  morning  he 
would  enter  his  office  at  the  Chemical  Bank,  where 
he  would  remain  until  noon,  when  he  would  walk 
down  to  Wall  Street  and  visit  Ludlow  Thomas,  one 
of  his  closest  friends.  Shortly  after  three  o'clock 
he  would  return  to  the  Bank  office,  and,  after 
finishing  the  business  of  the  day,  he  would  go  to 
his  Fifth  Avenue  house  to  dine.  Here,  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Twenty-eighth  Street,  he  lived 
practically  alone  for  the  last  two  years  of  his  life. 
Among  his  associates  he  was  very  companionable, 
and  could  tell  a  good  story  and  laugh  heartily  over 
the  humor  in  another's  tale. 

In  early  life  he  was  a  keen  sportsman  and  owned 
a  number  of  fine  hunting  dogs. 

Until  Mr.  Jones  became  so  deeply  engrossed  in 
business  affairs,  said  the  New  York  World  a  few 
days  after  his  death,  he  had  been  quite  celebrated 
as  a  sportsman  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  He 
was  almost  passionately  fond  of  gunning,  and  not 
a  season  passed  without  his  making  several  ex- 
cursions to  his  hunting  grounds.  One  morning  he 
would  be  shooting  snipe  in  New  Jersey  marshes 
and  a  few  days  later  the  crack  of  his  rifle  would 
be  echoing  among  the  Adirondack  Mountains  or 
the  wooded  hills  of  Connecticut.  In  these  sports 
he    was    usually    accompanied    by    his    brothers 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Charles  and  Joshua,  neither  of  whom  could  come  up 
to  him  either  in  searching  for  game  or  bringing  it 
down  and  bagging  it  when  found.  His  dogs  were 
of  the  finest  breeds  and  always  thoroughly  trained. 
In  those  days  he  would  roam  over  mountains  and 
wade  through  marshes,  utterly  regardless  of  phys- 
ical comfort  or  anything  else  but  the  game  he 
was  pursuing.  Whatever  he  did  was  done  thor- 
oughly and  never  by  halves.  As  a  business  man 
he  was  methodical,  cautious,  and  untiring;  as  a 
banker,  conservative,  farseeing,  and  confident. 
Wherever  he  made  an  investment  the  most  sub- 
stantial securities  were  required. 

The  only  public  office  that  Mr.  Jones  ever  con- 
sented to  accept  was  as  a  member  of  the  second 
commission  to  widen  Broadway  between  Thirty- 
fourth  and  Fifty-ninth  streets.  This  he  accepted 
chiefly  upon  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friend 
Alexander  T.  Stewart.  His  fees  amounted  to  be- 
tween #8,000  and  $10,000,  but  the  entire  amount 
he  returned  to  the  city,  receiving  Comptroller 
Andrew  H.  Greene's  receipt  for  the  sum.  He  was 
a  member  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  owning  a  pew  there 
which  had  belonged  to  his  father.  At  one  time 
he  was  elected  a  vestryman  of  Trinity,  but  this 
he  declined.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a 
director  in  the  New  York  Life  Insurance  and 
Trust  Company,  the  Eagle  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany, and  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company. 

"Not  only  the  Chemical  Bank  but  all  the 
financial  interests  of  New  York  sustain  a  severe 
loss  in  his  death,"  was  the  statement  of  one  who 


MIDDLE  DITCH   CHURCH 
AFTERWARD  USED  AS  NEW  YORK  POST  OFFICE 


QUILL  PEN  USED  BY  J.  Q.  JONES 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  91 

knew  the  wide  influence  exerted  by  Mr.  Jones  in 
the  financial  world. 

Mr.  Jones  died  in  his  Fifth  Avenue  residence  on 
Tuesday  night,  January  1,  1878,  closing  a  busy, 
useful  life  of  seventy-four  years.  On  the  previous 
Saturday  he  had  been  at  the  Bank  attending  to 
business  as  usual,  remaining  until  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  Funeral  services  were  held  Friday 
morning,  January  4th,  in  Trinity  Chapel,  Twenty- 
fifth  Street.  The  pallbearers  were  George  G. 
Williams,  Frederic  W.  Stevens,  Henry  Parish, 
Ludlow  Thomas,  Abraham  M.  Proudflt,  James  A. 
Roosevelt,  Robert  Goelet,  and  Robert  L.  Kennedy. 
Nearly  every  city  bank  president  was  present  at 
the  funeral  and  the  financial  institutions  of  the 
city  were  practically  all  represented.  The  body 
of  Mr.  Jones  was  interred  in  the  Jones  family 
vault  in  St.  Luke's  churchyard  in  Hudson  Street. 

"When  such  a  man  dies,"  said  one  of  the  numer- 
ous contemporary  notices  of  his  life,  "it  is  well 
that  the  community  should  turn  aside  from  gaping 
over  the  noisy  conflicts  of  cheap  politicians  and 
ostentatious  speculators,  to  rekindle  in  the  light 
of  a  career  so  unobtrusive  yet  so  successful  some- 
thing of  the  old  faith  in  the  slow  but  sure  proc- 
esses of  intelligent  integrity  and  something  of  the 
old  reverence  for  the  policy  of  honesty  in  public 
and  in  private  affairs." 

Mr.  Jones  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  the  oldest 
bank  president  in  term  of  office  in  the  city.  For 
nearly  thirty-four  years  he  had  directed  the  affairs 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

of  the  Chemical.  The  directors  met  immediately 
after  the  loss  of  their  president  and  adopted  these 
resolutions : 

Resolved:  That  in  the  death  of  our  honored 
president,  John  Q.  Jones,  we  lose  a  friend  whose 
upright  honesty  and  unselfish  life  have  endeared 
him  to  us. 

Resolved:  That,  as  representatives  of  this  in- 
stitution, we  have  to  regret  the  death  of  an  officer 
whose  life  and  energy  were  devoted  to  making  the 
position  of  the  bank  most  enviable  through  his 
great  financial  ability,  unswerving  honesty  and 
high  regard  for  its  duties  and  responsibilities. 


GEORGE  G.  WILLIAMS 


CHAPTER  III 

GEORGE    G.    WILLIAMS,    1826-I903 
IN    THE    SERVICE    OF    THE    CHEMICAL    BANK     1842-I903 

Even  a  brief  record  of  the  life  of  George  G. 
Williams  would  be  in  large  part  a  history  of 
the  Chemical  Bank  itself.  Brought  up  amid  the 
old-fashioned  but  eminently  safe  business  prin- 
ciples advocated  and  pursued  by  its  founders,  Mr. 
Williams,  during  his  sixty-one  years  of  service, 
beginning  as  a  clerk  at  sixteen  years  of  age, 
never  forgot  that  a  bank  is  the  custodian  of 
other  people's  property.  To  his  conservatism 
was  added  a  keen  business  vision  which  enabled 
him  to  take  advantage  of  every  legitimate  means 
for  the  financial  development  of  the  institution 
to  which  he  gave  the  labor  of  the  greater  part  of 
his  life. 

Mr.  Williams's  life  was  as  free  from  sensation- 
alism as  was  his  career  as  a  banker.  His  family 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  New  England,  the 
first  member  to  come  to  this  country  being  Robert 
Williams,  who  settled  at  Roxbury  and  was  ad- 
mitted as  a  freeman  in  1638.  Roger  Williams, 
the  founder  of  Rhode  Island,  and  William  W7illiams, 
one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 

93 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

dence  from  Connecticut,  were  illustrious  members 
of  the  same  family. 

George  G.  Williams  was  born  October  9,  1826, 
in  East  Haddam,  Conn.,  one  of  the  historic  towns 
of  that  state,  where  Nathan  Hale,  the  martyr 
spy  of  the  Revolution,  first  taught  school  after  his 
graduation  from  Yale.  His  father,  Dr.  Datus 
Williams,  was  a  physician  of  prominence,  and  for 
years  had  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the  Jones 
family.  An  invalid  brother  of  John  Q.  Jones  was 
obliged  to  spend  some  time  in  East  Haddam  for 
his  health.  He  became  greatly  attached  to  the 
doctor's  son  and  besought  the  father  to  allow  his 
boy  to  enter  upon  a  business  career  in  New  York. 
Although  somewhat  reluctant  at  first,  as  young 
Williams  was  then  a  student  in  Brainard  Academy 
preparing  for  college,  Doctor  Williams  finally  con- 
sented, and  in  1842  George  entered  upon  his  duties 
as  a  clerk  in  the  Chemical  Bank.  A  bond  of 
#3,000  was  given  for  the  proper  and  honest  per- 
formance of  his  duties.  The  original  document, 
dated  April  28,  1842,  signed  by  Dr.  Datus  Williams 
and  several  relatives,  with  a  bright  red  stamp  op- 
posite each  name,  is  one  of  the  memorials  of  early 
days  still  preserved  by  the  Bank,  as  is  also  his 
first  salary  receipt. 

The  new  clerk  evinced  marked  aptitude  in  his 
duties,  and  by  patient  and  careful  attention  to  his 
work  earned  the  esteem  of  his  employers.  In 
1848  he  was  rewarded  by  being  made  paying 
teller,  an  important  position  for  one  but  twenty 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  95 

years  of  age.  His  salary  was  #1,100.  In  1850, 
owing  to  illness,  Mr.  Williams  was  obliged  to  seek 
rest  and  recreation  for  several  months,  and  Jacob 
Cox  Parsons,  who  entered  the  Bank  the  previous 
year  as  receiving  teller,  became  paying  teller.  On 
his  return  to  the  Bank  Mr.  Williams  was  made  dis- 
count clerk,  holding  that  position  until  1855,  when, 
upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Desdoity,  he  was  appointed 
cashier.  Nine  years  later,  in  1864,  Mr.  Williams 
was  elected  a  director  of  the  Bank.  In  1878  he 
began  his  quarter-century  term  as  president. 

The  important  events  of  the  years  1892  to  1894 
had  elevated  Mr.  Williams  to  that  position  popu- 
larly styled  "a  public  man."  As  president  of  the 
Clearing  House  Association  during  the  money 
crisis  of  1893  he  appointed  the  famous  Loan  Com- 
mittee, naming  Frederick  D.  Tappen,  president  of 
the  Gallatin  National  Bank,  as  its  chairman.  At 
this  important  meeting  in  June,  1893,  nearly  every 
bank  in  the  Clearing  House  was  represented,  and 
the  issuing  of  Clearing  House  certificates  was 
authorized  without  a  dissenting  vote.  In  address- 
ing the  members,  President  Williams  said: 

"The  citadel  is  all  right,  but  we  want  to 
strengthen  the  outposts." 

The  Loan  Committee  came  to  the  assistance 
nobly;  and  the  situation  had  been  cleared  when, 
late  in  November,  1893,  its  duties  ended. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Williams  was  concluding  his 
second  year  as  president  of  the  Clearing  House. 


96  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

He  succeeded  Mr.  Tappen  in  1892,  and  it  was  re- 
marked at  the  time  as  an  interesting  fact  that 
thirty-nine  years  before,  when  the  association  was 
organized,  Mr.  Williams  was  the  Clearing  House 
clerk  for  the  Chemical  Bank. 

How  intimate  and  constant  were  his  services 
to  the  Clearing  House  appears  from  the  following 
list  of  his  positions  there:  President,  1886,  1893, 
1894;  member  of  Conference  Committee,  1873, 
1874,  1881,  1882,  and  (as  chairman)  1887;  member 
of  Clearing  House  Committee,  1885,  1888-1890, 
1892,  1895,  1896,  1898,  1899,  1901,  1902;  member 
of  Loan  Committee,  1884,  1890,  1893-1895. 

When  Mr.  Williams  retired  from  the  presidency 
on  October  2,  1894,  it  was  an  historic  day  in  the 
history  of  the  Clearing  House,  being  the  occasion 
of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  for  the  handsome 
building  in  Cedar  Street.  He  made  an  address, 
reciting  briefly  the  history  of  the  association,  and, 
in  referring  to  the  assistance  it  had  been  enabled 
to  give  during  the  preceding  months  of  financial 
disturbance,   he  said: 

In  seasons  of  panic  the  interests  centred  in  this 
Clearing  House  have  been  united  to  serve  the 
public  good.  To  erect  a  barrier  against  the  evils, 
Clearing  House  certificates  have  at  various  times 
been  issued,  resulting  in  each  instance  in  dimin- 
ished disturbance,  restoring  confidence  and  reliev- 
ing commercial  distress.  They  have  never  been 
resorted  to  except  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity. 
These  certificates  have  in  each  instance  well  ful- 
filled the  purposes  of  their  issue,  notably  during 


NEW  YORK  CLEARING  HOUSE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  97 

the  Civil  War,  in  enabling  the  banks  to  carry  the 
great  war  loans,  and  again  during  the  protracted 
panic  of  1893,  when  the  whole  country  from  ocean 
to  ocean  was  almost  overwhelmed  with  financial 
disaster.  During  these  trying  times  the  one  con- 
spicuous object  looked  to  for  relief,  aside  from 
Congress,  was  the  New  York  Clearing  House.  It 
boldly  and  successfully  fulfilled  its  mission.  The 
history  of  finance  records  no  action  of  greater  con- 
sequence in  averting  calamities  arising  from  panics 
than  that  of  this  Clearing  House  during  the  past 
year. 

In  all  of  his  personal  relations  of  life  Mr.  Wil- 
liams exemplified  the  same  noble  standards  of 
honesty,  faithfulness  and  courtesy  that  endeared 
him  to  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  in  busi- 
ness relations.  "Faithfulness  to  my  every  duty" 
was  his  explanation  one  day  when  asked  to  what 
he  attributed  his  success  in  life.  His  singleness  of 
purpose,  together  with  his  courtesy  toward  all 
men,  furnished  a  striking  illustration  of  the  truth 
that  it  is  possible  for  a  Christian  gentleman  to 
carry  his  ideals  of  Christianity  with  him  in  his 
business.  He  was  an  active  member  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's Church,  being  for  many  years  a  vestry- 
man and  treasurer  of  the  church.  In  the  parish 
work  he  always  took  a  deep  interest,  and  he  gave 
generous  aid  to  the  Orphans'  Home  and  Asylum 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  which  was 
liberally  endowed  by  John  Q.  Jones  and  others  of 
that  family.  He  was  also  a  governor  and  vice- 
president  of  the  Lying-in-Hospital  and  treasurer 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

of  the  Institution  for  the  Savings  of  Merchants' 
Clerks.  His  aid  and  counsel  were  sought  in  the 
management  of  estates  of  many  of  his  departed 
friends,  but  these  duties  were  performed  so  quietly 
that  few  were  aware  of  these  additional  labors. 
Among  such  estates  were  those  of  John  Q.  Jones, 
Joshua  Jones,  Robert  L.  Stuart  and  his  wife  Mary 
Stuart,  Louis  C.  Hamersley,  Arthur  N.  GifTord, 
and  Wilson  G.  Hunt. 

He  was  also  a  director  and  trustee  of  many  cor- 
porations, including  the  Title  Guarantee  and 
Trust  Company,  the  Bond  and  Mortgage  Guaran- 
tee Company,  the  Texas  Midland  Railroad  Com- 
pany, the  Eastman  Company,  the  Fidelity  and 
Casualty  Company,  the  Union  Trust  Company, 
the  Mexican  Telegraph  Company,  the  United 
States  Life  Insurance  Company,  the  Pennsylvania 
Coal  Company,  and  the  Eagle  Fire  Insurance 
Company. 

Up  to  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-seven  Mr. 
Williams  continued  active.  But  a  sudden  illness 
overtook  him  at  his  home,  34  West  Fifty-eighth 
Street,  in  1903.  Within  a  few  days,  on  May  7th, 
the  long  career  that  had  meant  so  much  to  the 
financial  and  other  enterprises  of  his  city  and 
nation  had  ended. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  on  May  10th,  at 
St.  Bartholomew's  Church,  and  the  burial  was 
at  Woodlawn.  All  of  the  leading  banking  houses 
in  the  city  were  represented  in  this  last  tribute 
of  respect  to  one   who   had   been   so   intimately 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  99 

associated  with  them  in  the  financial  triumphs 
and  troubles  of  the  city.  Four  directors  of  the 
Chemical  Bank  were  among  the  honorary  pall- 
bearers: W.  Emlen  Roosevelt,  Augustus  D.  Juil- 
liard,  George  G.  DeWitt,  and  William  H.  Porter. 

JOHN    DAVID    WOLFE 

John  David  Wolfe  was  one  of  New  York's 
most  prominent  merchants,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  the  oldest  director  in  point  of  service  of  the 
Chemical  National  Bank.  Mr.  Wolfe  entered  the 
directorate  of  the  Bank  in  1844  and  remained  a 
valued  member  of  its  Board  for  twenty-eight 
years,  until  his  death  on  May  17,  1872.  He  was 
one  of  the  largest  stockholders  at  the  Bank's 
rechartering  in  1844,  Peter  Goelet,  Joseph  Samp- 
son, and  Mr.  Wolfe  each  subscribing  for  300 
shares. 

Mr.  Wolfe  was  born  in  this  city  on  July  24,  1792. 
His  father,  David  Wolfe,  was  Assistant  Quarter- 
master in  Washington's  army  during  a  period  of 
the  Revolution.  He  founded  the  hardware  firm 
to  which  the  son  succeeded  when  he  retired  in 
1 8 16.  The  business  was  then  situated  at  87 
Maiden  Lane.  In  later  years  Japhet  Bishop  be- 
came a  partner,  and  as  Wolfe  &  Bishop  the  firm 
ranked  among  the  leaders  in  the  hardware  busi- 
ness of  the  city. 

Mr.  Wolfe  married  Dorothea  Ann,  a  daughter 
of     the     first     Peter    Lorillard.     His     daughter, 


ioo  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Catharine  Lorillard  Wolfe,  inherited  her  father's 
tastes  for  charitable  and  helpful  deeds,  but  to  the 
city  at  large  her  name  is  chiefly  remembered  for 
the  magnificent  art  collection  bequeathed  by  her 
to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art. 

In  1842  Mr.  Wolfe  retired  from  active  business, 
though  he  still  remained  a  director  in  a  number  of 
business  corporations,  and  he  devoted  the  greater 
part  of  his  closing  years  to  public  and  charitable 
affairs.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  and  the  first 
president  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
holding  that  position  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
was  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  York  As- 
sociation for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the 
Poor.  He  was  president  of  the  Prison  Associa- 
tion of  New  York;  vice-president  of  the  New  York 
Hospital;  vice-president  of  the  Hospital  for  the 
Relief  of  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled;  and  a  member 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  to  which  he 
gave  the  valuable  library  of  Buchanan  Smith. 
His  charitable  and  church  interests  were  bounded 
by  no  narrow  limitations.  To  the  dioceses  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Kansas, 
Iowa,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  Oregon  he  was  a  liberal 
contributor.  He  established  a  diocesan  school  for 
girls  at  Topeka,  Kan.,  and  erected  the  home  for 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Kenyon,  Col.  He 
also  gave  the  land  for  the  Home  for  Incurables 
at  Fordham.  With  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  he  founded 
the  Sheltering  Arms  Institution  in  this  city. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Wolfe  was  a  vestryman  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  101 

Trinity  Church.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
senior  warden  of  Grace  Church.  He  compiled 
an  abbreviated  form  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  for  use  in  mission  services  which  is  still 
extensively  used.  Amid  such  works,  to  quote  from 
a  notice  after  his  death,  "thirty  years  of  his  life 
were  passed  and  the  genial  nature  of  the  man 
added  greatly  to  the  value  of  his  benefactions,  for 
he  was  a  cheerful  giver.  Passing  the  whole  of  his 
long  life  in  the  city,  with  the  exception  of  two  or 
three  excursions  to  Europe,  he  was  one  of  the  best 
known  of  our  citizens  in  its  social  circles,  where  his 
absence  will  be  deservedly  regretted." 

Mr.  Wolfe  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  in  his 
eightieth  year.  He  was  buried  in  Greenwood 
cemetery. 

THE    GOELETS 

There  have  been  actively  associated  in  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Chemical  Bank  three  generations  of  the 
Goelet  family  —  Peter  Goelet,  Robert  Goelet,  and 
Robert  Walton  Goelet.  Peter  Goelet,  although 
never  a  director,  was  one  of  the  largest  stock- 
holders when  the  Bank  was  rechartered  as  a  state 
bank  in  1844.  For  more  than  thirty-five  years  he 
worked  as  an  invaluable  adviser  and  voluntary 
helper  in  its  business  needs.  It  was  said,  in- 
deed, that  if  he  could  not  be  found  in  his  old- 
fashioned  house  at  Broadway  and  Nineteenth 
Street,  he  was  sure  to  be  in  the  Chemical  Bank 


102  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

directors'  room.  His  brother,  Robert  Goelet, 
father  and  grandfather  of  two  of  the  directors, 
was  also  a  large  stockholder.  Like  President  John 
Q.  Jones,  Peter  Goelet  was  also  a  bachelor. 

Peter   Goelet   was   born    June    22,    1800.     His 
grandfather,  of  the  same  name,  had  been  enrolled 


RESIDENCE  OF  PETER  GOELET 
CORNER  OF  BROADWAY  AND  NINETEENTH  STREET 

among  the  Sons  of  Liberty  during  the  troublous 
Stamp  Act  times,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the 
celebrated  Committee  of  Correspondence  and  of 
the  Committee  of  One  Hundred.  Long  before 
the  Revolution,  however,  he  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  business  success  in  his  Hanover  Square  hard- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  103 

ware  store,  known  far  and  wide  as  the  "Sign  of  the 
Golden  Key."  The  Coffee  Exchange  now  oc- 
cupies the  site. 

By  no  means  did  Peter  Goelet,  Sr.,  confine  his 
business  interests  to  articles  of  hardware.  His 
advertisements,  which  appear  frequently  in  the 
Colonial  newspapers,  show  that  he  endeavored  to 
supply  the  Knickerbocker  families  with  the  lux- 
uries as  well  as  the  necessities  of  life.  In  many 
ways  he  was  the  prototype  of  the  modern  depart- 
ment store.  He  died  in  181 1,  and  his  eldest  son, 
Peter  P.  Goelet,  succeeded  to  the  business.  An 
advertisement  in  a  New  York  paper  of  February 
17,  1803,  gives  this  interesting  bit  of  information: 

For  Sale,  New  Brick  house  and  lot,  63  Water 
Street,  at  present  occupied  by  Mr.  Peter  P.  Goelet. 
The  house  possesses  every  convenience,  with  an 
excellent  large  store  in  front.  Also  a  negro  wench, 
18  years  of  age.  She  is  a  good  cook  and  seamstress. 
Apply  to  Leonard  Bleecker. 

Peter  P.  Goelet  died  in  1828,  leaving  four  chil- 
dren, Peter,  Jean  B.,  Hannah,  and  Robert.  Han- 
nah Goelet  married  Thomas  R.  Gerry,  an  officer  in 
the  United  States  Navy,  whose  father  was  El- 
bridge  Gerry  of  Revolutionary  fame  and  who,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  18 14,  was  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States.  Their  son  is  Commodore 
Elb ridge  T.  Gerry.  Thomas  Gerry  died  in  1845, 
and  his  widow  survived  him  fifty  years,  dying  in 
the  old  Goelet  mansion  on  Broadway  in  1895. 


io4  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Peter  Goelet  and  his  younger  brother,  Robert, 
born  in  1809,  were  not  only  brothers  but  com- 
panions in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word.  Both 
died  in  the  same  year,  Peter  on  November  21,  1879, 
his  younger  brother  having  preceded  him  by  two 
months.  Peter  Goelet  inherited  valuable  real 
estate  holdings  acquired  by  his  father  and  grand- 
father, and  he  made  still  further  additions  by  wise 
investments.  His  brother,  Robert  Goelet,  was 
married  in  1839  to  Miss  Sarah  Ogden.  Their  sons 
were  Ogden  and  Robert  Goelet.  The  latter,  who 
became  a  director  in  the  Chemical  Bank  in  1878, 
was  born  in  1841  in  the  old  Goelet  home  at  5  State 
Street.  He  was  graduated  from  Columbia  in 
i860,  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
Early  in  life  he  showed  a  marked  aptitude  for 
business,  and  the  major  part  of  the  management 
of  the  Goelet  estate  devolved  upon  him.  Mr. 
Goelet  took  a  keen  interest  in  civic  and  public 
affairs  of  the  day.  Ever  characterized  by  un- 
ostentatious demeanor,  by  sound  judgment,  and 
tactful  methods,  he  exerted  a  beneficial  influence 
in  many  directions.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
stockholders  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House, 
and  a  director  in  numerous  trust  companies  and 
other  business  organizations. 

BRADISH    JOHNSON 

was   born  April   22,    181 1,    at   Magnolia   Planta- 
tion on  the  Mississippi  River,  about  forty  miles 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  105 

below  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  William  M.  John- 
son, his  father,  was  a  native  of  Nova  Scotia  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  early  life,  becoming 
an  eminent  merchant  and  manufacturer  in  New 
York.  In  addition  to  his  property  in  the  city, 
he  obtained  large  holdings  in  Louisiana,  owning 
several  plantations  near  New  Orleans.  He  mar- 
ried Sarah  Rice,  a  member  of  the  leading  Boston 
family  of  that  name. 

Bradish  Johnson  came  North  at  an  early  age, 
and  was  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in 
183 1.  After  his  graduation  he  went  into  business 
with  his  father,  and  on  the  death  of  the  latter  he 
entered  the  sugar  refining  business  and  was  the 
first  man  to  successfully  make  use  of  centrifugal 
machines  for  the  manufacture  of  sugar.  He  was 
for  many  years  a  prominent  figure  in  the  business 
and  social  worlds  both  of  New  York  and  of  New 
Orleans,  spending  a  portion  of  every  year  in  each 
city.  His  New  York  residence  was  at  Twenty- 
first  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  resid- 
ing at  his  plantation  in  Louisiana.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  great  struggle,  considerably  before 
President  Lincoln  had  issued  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation,  he  voluntarily  freed  his  many 
slaves.  When  the  United  States  fleet,  engaged  in 
the  capture  of  New  Orleans,  came  up  the  river  to 
where  his  plantation  was,  he  at  once  raised  the 
national  flag  and  kept  it  flying  as  long  as  the  war 
lasted. 


io6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

He  was  one  of  the  original  directors  (elected  in 
1844)  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  and  served  as  such 
for  twenty  years.  He  was  also  a  director  of 
several  other  institutions,  notably  the  Continental 
Insurance  Company  of  New  York. 

He  married  Louisa  A.  Lawrence,  who  was  a 
granddaughter  of  Jonathan  Lawrence,  one  of  the 
most  active  supporters  of  the  patriotic  cause  in 
New  York  during  the  American  Revolution.  In 
1874  Mr.  Johnson  gave  up  active  business,  and 
after  that  devoted  his  time  to  the  care  of  his  real 
estate  in  New  York  and  Louisiana,  where  he  had 
large  interests,  which  still  remain  in  the  hands  of 
his  heirs,  in  corporations  known,  in  the  North, 
as  the  "Estate  of  Bradish  Johnson,"  and  in 
the  South  as  the  'Bradish  Johnson  Company, 
Limited." 

He  died  November  3,  1892.  He  was  the  father 
of  ten  children,  of  whom  three  are  still  living. 

JOSEPH    SAMPSON 

was  born  in  Plympton,  Mass.,  in  1794.  His 
ancestor  Abraham  Sampson  joined  the  Plymouth 
colony  in  1629-30.  Isaac  Sampson,  the  son  of 
Abraham,  was  born  in  Duxbury  in  1658,  and 
married  Lydia  Standish,  the  daughter  of  Alexander 
Standish  and  granddaughter  of  Miles  Standish  and 
of  John  Alden,  pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower.  The 
father  of  Joseph  Sampson  was  the  Rev.  Ezra 
Sampson,  born  1749,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  Col- 


MANSION   HOUSE  — 39  BROADWAY 


ASTOR  HOUSE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  107 

lege  in  1773.  He  acted  as  chaplain  to  a  regiment 
of  Massachusetts  troops  at  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  was  pastor  of  the  Plympton  Church 
twenty-one  years,  when  he  resigned  from  the 
ministry  and  soon  after  (in  1798)  removed  to 
Hudson,  N.  Y.,  then  a  place  of  considerable  im- 
portance, where  he  with  Mr.  (afterward  Rev. 
Dr.)  Harry  Crosswell  edited  a  paper  called  The 
Balance.  He  was  the  author  of  several  books  and 
pamphlets,  among  others  "The  Brief  Remarker," 
and  "Beauties  of  the  Bible,"  which  had  a  con- 
siderable circulation.  He  died  in  New  York,  at 
the  residence  of  his  son,  Joseph,  in  1823. 

Joseph  Sampson  came  to  New  York  when  quite 
a  lad,  and  with  scanty  means,  but  by  his  industry, 
intelligence,  and  integrity  soon  worked  his  way  to 
the  front  in  the  firm  of  Boggs  &  Livingston,  auc- 
tioneers, founded  1800- 1802;  next  Boggs  &  Thomp- 
son, then  Thompson  &  Sampson  from  1820  to 
1830,  and  Joseph  Sampson  &  Co.  from  1830  to 
1847.  This  firm  has  continued  to  the  present  day, 
under  various  names.  Mr.  Sampson  married  first 
Adele  Livingston,  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  W. 
Livingston,  a  partner  in  his  old  firm,  and  second 
Emily  Apthorp  of  New  Haven.  He  lived  first  in 
Chambers  Street,  not  far  from  where  the  present 
Chemical  National  Bank  stands,  and  moved  in 
1840  to  the  house  built  by  the  banker  Samuel 
Ward,  corner  of  Broadway  and  Bond  Street,  where 
he  died  in  May,  1872.  He  paid  #70,000  for  this 
property,  upon  which  John  Jacob  Astor  remarked 


io8  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

that  he  did  not  know  that  there  was  any  one  in 
New  York  who  could  afford  to  pay  such  a  price 
for  a  residence.  Mr.  Sampson  had  not  only  the 
satisfaction  of  living  in  the  finest  of  houses,  but  in 
one  which  increased  continuously  in  value  to  the 
day  of  his  death.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Chemical  Bank,  subscribing  to  one  tenth  of 
the  capital  stock  and  asking  to  take  more,  but  it 
was  not  thought  wise  to  let  any  one  hold  more  than 
that  proportion.  Being  a  director  of  the  Bank  of 
Commerce,  he  did  not  serve  as  such  in  the  Chemi- 
cal Bank,  but  was  always  one  of  the  leading  ad- 
visers and  directors  of  its  policy,  visiting  it  every 
day  and  consulting  with  its  officers.  He  retired 
from  business  at  a  comparatively  early  age,  but 
continued  to  take  an  active  and  leading  part  in 
the  various  companies  and  institutions  with  which 
he  was  connected  as  director.  He  was  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1872,  a  director  in  the  New 
York  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company,  the 
Bank  of  Commerce,  the  New  York  Gas  Light 
Company,  and  the  Eagle  Fire  Company,  in  most 
of  which,  if  not  in  all,  he  was  the  largest  stock- 
holder, as  his  policy  was  always  to  hold  as  much 
as  possible  of  what  he  believed,  after  thorough 
examination,  to  be  safe  and  permanent  invest- 
ments. He  pursued  the  same  course  in  his  real 
estate  purchases,  and  his  wisdom  has  been  shown 
by  the  great  increase  of  value  in  his  real  and  per- 
sonal property  since  his  death.  He  was  remark- 
able  for   his    good   judgment.     His    clearness    of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  109 

vision  in  business  matters  made  his  advice  most 
valuable  to  those  associated  with  him,  while  his 
even  temperament  prevented  his  losing  his  head 
in  times  of  panic  and  financial  trouble.  During 
the  Civil  War  he  stood  by  the  Government,  sub- 
scribing to  every  issue  of  bonds  and  cheerfully 
paying  income  and  other  taxes  with  an  alacrity 
which  surprised  some  of  his  doubting  associates, 
saying,  "If  the  Government  fails,  what  else  is 
good?"  He  lived  to  see  the  success  of  the  North- 
ern cause,  and  peace  and  prosperity  return  to  his 
united  country. 

THE    ROOSEVELTS 

Three  generations  of  the  Roosevelt  family  have 
been  represented  upon  the  directorate  of  the 
Chemical  Bank,  a  bit  of  family  and  banking 
history  that  is  as  interesting  as  it  is  practically 
unique. 

Cornelius  Van  Schaick  Roosevelt,  grandfather 
of  the  present  director,  W.  Emlen  Roosevelt,  was 
one  of  the  original  five  directors  when  the  bank 
was  rechartered  in  1844.  He  was  the  son  of 
James  I.  Roosevelt,  a  prominent  merchant  in  the 
days  when  the  little  town  on  the  lower  end  of 
Manhattan  Island  was  recovering  from  the  effects 
of  the  Revolution.  James  I.  Roosevelt  started 
his  hardware  business  in  1797  at  94  Maiden  Lane. 
The  family  residence  was  close  by,  at  99  Maiden 
Lane,   and  there  Cornelius  V.   S.   Roosevelt  was 


no  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

born,  April  I,  1794.  His  capacity  for  business  was 
honored  by  admittance  into  the  firm  in  1818,  and 
during  the  lifetime  of  his  father,  up  to  1840,  the 
firm  was  known  as  James  I.  Roosevelt  &  Son. 

In  1850  the  character  of  the  business  was 
changed,  the  hardware  trade  giving  way  to  the 
importation  of  plate  glass,  but  the  old  Maiden 
Lane  quarters  were  retained.  The  plate-glass  busi- 
ness was  continued  by  Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt 
and  his  sons  until  1865,  when  the  former  retired. 
The  family  home  was  then  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  Broadway  and  Fourteenth  Street,  where  Mr. 
Roosevelt  had  erected  one  of  the  largest  of  the  new 
uptown  residences,  about  1844. 

Of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  six  sons,  five  lived  to  years 
of  maturity  and  attained  distinction  in  various 
walks  of  life.  They  were:  Silas  Weir,  James  A., 
Cornelius  Van  S.,  Jr.,  Robert  B.,  and  Theodore, 
the  latter  being  the  father  of  President  Roosevelt. 
He  died  in  1878. 

Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt  died  at  his  summer 
home,  at  Oyster  Bay,  July  17,  187 1.  A  few  years 
later  the  old  Fourteenth  Street  and  Broadway 
property  was  leased  for  business  purposes  and  the 
family  residence  was  torn  down.  The  site  is  now 
occupied  by  the  Domestic  Building. 

James  A.  Roosevelt  was  the  second  son  of 
Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt.  He  was  born  June 
13,  1825.  He  was  associated  with  his  father  and 
brother  Theodore  for  many  years  in  the  plate- 
glass  business,  but  after  the  death  of  the  former 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  in 

he  established  the  banking  house  of  Roosevelt  & 
Son  at  33  Wall  Street.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  first 
elected  a  director  of  the  Chemical  Bank  on  April 
27,  1863,  succeeding  his  father,  who  resigned  on 
account  of  ill  health.  When  the  elder  Roosevelt 
returned  to  the  Board  four  years  later  the  son 
resigned,  but  within  a  few  months,  on  December 
21,  1867,  he  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  oc- 
casioned by  the  death  of  Robert  McCoskry. 
Like  his  father,  he  was  unostentatious  in  char- 
acter, devoting  his  time  to  his  family,  his  business, 
and  various  charitable  objects.  The  only  public 
office  he  ever  held  was  that  of  Park  Commissioner, 
to  which  he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Strong  in  1 895 . 
Mr.  Roosevelt  was  deeply  interested  in  Roose- 
velt Hospital.  He  was  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  for  a  number  of  years,  holding  that 
office  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  hospital  was 
founded  through  the  munificence  of  his  cousin, 
James  H.  Roosevelt,  who  died  in  1863,  leaving,  in 
his  will,  practically  his  entire  property  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  hospital.  Among  other  interests  Mr. 
Roosevelt  was  vice-president  of  the  Bank  for 
Savings,  a  director  in  the  Greenwich  Insurance 
Company,  the  Eagle  Fire  Insurance  Company,  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company,  and  the 
New  York  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company. 

ISAAC    L.    PLATT 

was    born    in    Freehold,    Albany    County    (now 
Greene  County),  N.  Y.,  April  5,  1793.     He  was  one 


H2  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

of  twins.  His  father,  Stephen  Piatt,  died  there 
December  12,  1800. 

Isaac  L.,  and  his  twin  brother,  Jacob  S.,  moved 
to  New  York  City.  Jacob  S.  bought  the  property 
and  cut  the  street  in  New  York  City  which  bears 
his  name  — Piatt  Street  —  in  1834. 

Isaac  L.  Piatt  was  one  of  the  original  directors 
of  the  Chemical  Bank,  from  February  15,  1844,  to 
December  II,  1844.  He  was  vice-president  of  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company  when  this 
railway  was  put  through,  also  director  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Coal  Company,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
importers  of  English  plate  glass  to  this  country. 
He  died  October  22,  1875,  at  Plainfield,  N.  J. 

GEORGE    G.    DEWITT 

who  died  January  12,  191 2,  was  a  director  in  the 
Bank  from  January  9,  1900,  until  his  death, 
was  born  in  1845,  and  was  graduated  from  Col- 
umbia College  in  1867,  and  from  the  Columbia 
Law  School  in  1869.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
New  York  Bar  the  same  year,  and  entered  the 
law  office  of  his  uncles,  C.  J.  and  E.  DeWitt. 
He  was  a  grandson  of  Peter  DeWitt,  a  prominent 
equity  lawyer  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Peter 
DeWitt  was  graduated  from  Yale  in  1799,  and  in 
1803  was  admitted  to  the  New  York  Bar,  and 
continued  to  practise  as  an  attorney  and  counsellor 
in  the  City  of  New  York  until  his  death  in  1851. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  113 

His  clientage  included  many  of  the  principal 
stockholders  and  depositors  of  the  Chemical 
Bank  in  its  early  days,  among  whom  were  the 
Goelets,  Wolfes,  Bruces,  Roosevelts,  Platts,  Loril- 
lards,  and  other  representative  families  of  old 
New  York.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  sons,  C.  J. 
and  E.  DeWitt,  who  continued  the  law  practice 
established  by  their  father  down  to  1872,  when 
they  were  succeeded  by  the  firm  of  DeWitt, 
Lockman  &  Kip,  of  which  Mr.  George  G.  DeWitt 
became  a  member,  and  which  continued  until  1882, 
when  the  firm  name  was  changed  to  DeWitt, 
Lockman  &  DeWitt,  of  which  Mr.  DeWitt  at  his 
decease  was  the  senior  member. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  Mr.  DeWitt  was  the 
counsel  and  a  trustee  of  the  Greenwich  Savings 
Bank;  a  trustee  of  the  New  York  Life  Insurance 
and  Trust  Company  and  the  Fulton  Trust  Com- 
pany. He  was  also  a  trustee  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege, a  governor  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  and 
a  trustee  of  Roosevelt  Hospital;  a  member  of 
the  Saint  Nicholas  and  Holland  societies,  of  each 
of  which  he  was  at  one  time  president. 


PART  III 

SURROUNDINGS  AND  ORIGIN  OF  THE 
CHEMICAL   BANK 


CHAPTER  I 

NEW    YORK    IN     1824 

Few  characteristics  of  metropolitan  grandeur 
were  presented  by  New  York  in  1824,  the  year  that 
the  Chemical  Bank  took  its  place  among  the 
financial  institutions  of  the  city.  It  was  still  a 
city  of  small  homes.  Of  1,600  houses  erected  that 
year,  1,298  were  only  two  stories  in  height  and 
but  720  were  built  of  brick  or  stone. 

Broadway  was  not  yet  recognized  as  the  main 
artery  of  commercial  life.  Private  homes,  hotels, 
and  fashionable  boarding-houses  were  more  numer- 
ous on  that  thoroughfare  than  shops  of  trade. 
Nathaniel  Prime,  one  of  the  merchant  princes, 
lived  in  the  grand  old  mansion  at  1  Broadway, 
which  had  been  built  long  before  the  Revolution 
by  Admiral  Sir  Peter  Warren.  Stephen  Whitney 
lived  at  25  Pearl  Street;  Robert  Lenox  at  59  Broad- 
way, and  John  Jacob  Astor  lived  at  223  Broad- 
way, now  occupied  by  the  Astor  House.  In  the 
rear  of  his  house  was  an  entrance  connecting  with 
his  store  in  Vesey  Street.  One  door  above,  at 
225,  lived  David  Lydig,  and  the  next  house,  at  the 
corner  of  Barclay  Street,  was  occupied  by  John 
G.  Coster.     This,  it  is  said,  was  the  last  piece  of 

117 


n8  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

property  purchased  by  Mr.  Astor  when  he  was 
preparing  to  build  his  hotel.  Mr.  Coster  was 
satisfied  with  his  home  and  did  not  care  to  sell. 
One  day  Mr.  Astor  went  to  him  and  stated  frankly 
that  he  was  going  to  build  a  hotel.  "I  want  your 
house,"  he  said,  "and  I  wish  you  would  name  two 
friends  and  I  will  name  one.  These  three  shall 
fix  the  value  and  I  will  add  to  the  sum  $20,000." 
So  generous  an  offer  Mr.  Coster  could  not  refuse. 
With  the  money  he  built  an  elegant  house  at  517 
Broadway,  which,  after  his  death,  was  turned  into 
a  Chinese  Museum.  These  men  all  stood  at  the 
top  of  New  York's  wealthy  class,  although  John 
Jacob  Astor  alone  was  rated  as  a  millionaire. 

The  City  Hotel,  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway, 
at  the  corner  of  Cedar  Street,  where  until  a  few 
years  ago  the  Boreel  Building  stood,  was  the  lead- 
ing hostelry,  and  there  the  notable  visitors  usually 
stopped.  Lafayette  stayed  at  the  City  Hotel 
on  his  memorable  visit  to  America  in  1824.  Prom- 
inent among  the  more  modern  houses  that  soon 
came  to  the  front  were  Holt's  marble  hotel,  better 
known  in  recent  years  as  the  United  States  Hotel, 
at  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Fulton  streets,  which 
was  demolished  some  years  ago;  the  Irving  House, 
at  Broadway  and  Chambers  streets,  and  the  Astor 
House,  the  latter  being  opened  in  1836.  The  regu- 
lar charge  for  room  and  board  was  $1.50,  including 
four  meals  —  breakfast  at  eight,  dinner  at  three, 
tea  at  six,  and  supper  at  nine.  The  bill  of  fare  con- 
tained all  the  delicacies  of  the  season,   and  was 


f3 

hi  ?  it* 


nm 


,  1  ■ 


FLY  MARKET  —  FRONT  STREET  AND  MAIDEN  LANE.     BUSINESS 
LOCALITY  OF  SOME  OF  THE  BANK'S  DEPOSITORS 


«^i«te 


■  & 


*  *  *  THjSP 

s  fpwfftifiP* 


^1  - 


NEW   YORE  HOSPITAL 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  119 

served  in  a  most  ample  manner.  The  manage- 
ment evidently  placed  great  faith  in  the  adage  of 
caring  for  a  man's  stomach  and  allowing  other 
things  to  adjust  themselves.  A  peep  into  the 
inner  workings  of  the  hotel  revealed  the  most 
meagre  furnishings  in  the  sleeping  rooms  —  no 
carpet  on  the  floors,  a  scanty  supply  of  water, 
and  no  hot  or  cold  baths  at  any  price.  What  a 
contrast  is  presented  between  this,  the  best  hotel 
in  1824,  and  the  palatial  caravansaries  of  to-day! 

There  were  three  principal  markets  in  New 
York  City  at  this  time.  The  chief  of  these  was 
the  celebrated  Fly  Market  at  the  foot  of  Maiden 
Lane,  extending  from  Pearl  Street  to  Water  Street, 
thence  to  Front  Street,  and  thence  to  the  East 
River.  Its  first  division  —  that  lying  between 
Pearl  and  Water  streets  —  was  a  meat  market; 
its  second  division  —  between  Water  and  Front 
streets  —  was  also  a  meat  market,  and  its  third, 
under  a  part  of  which  the  water  flowed,  the  fish 
and  "country"  market,  each  market  being  situated 
in  the  middle  of  Maiden  Lane.  On  any  afternoon 
but  that  of  Sunday  the  farmers  of  Long  Island, 
especially  those  living  on  Gowanus  Bay  and  Creek, 
were  seen  making  a  landing  from  their  small  boats, 
depositing  on  the  wharves  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  market  the  produce  of  their  farms,  and  offering 
it  the  next  morning  for  sale  on  the  sidewalks  of 
Maiden  Lane  between  Front  Street  and  the  river. 

In  addition  to  Trinity  and  St.  Paul's,  for- 
tunately still  to  be  seen  in  their  accustomed  places, 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Grace  Church  was  one  of  the  prominent  Broad- 
way houses  of  worship.  The  church  then  stood 
on  the  Rector  Street  corner  opposite  Trinity, 
where  now  towers  the  Empire  Building.  Its 
name  for  many  years  of  being  the  most  fashion- 
able church  in  the  city  was  due,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  the  genial  character  of  its  rector,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Jonathan  M.  Wainwright,  combined  with  his  elo- 
quence as  a  pulpit  orator  and  after-dinner  speaker. 
An  English  visitor,  who  called  upon  Doctor  Wain- 
wright while  the  old-fashioned  custom  of  New 
Year's  day  calls  was  still  in  vogue,  says: 

I  found  him  attired  in  full  canonicals,  with  a 
table  displaying  a  profusion  of  wine  and  cake,  and 
busied  in  conversing  and  shaking  hands  with  his 
parishioners. 

Although  Broadway  was  tacitly  considered  to 
extend  to  Tenth  Street,  the  real  life  of  the  city 
ceased  at  the  hospital  occupying  the  whole  block 
on  the  west  side  of  Broadway,  between  Duane 
and  Worth  streets,  which,  with  its  spacious  grounds 
and  magnificent  trees,  held  out  bravely  against 
the  encroachments  of  business  until  1869,  when  it 
was  forced  to  join  the  uptown  procession. 

On  nearly  all  of  the  side  streets  branching  off 
from  Broadway  there  were  handsome  residences. 
Greenwich  Street  from  the  Battery  to  Cortlandt 
Street  was  a  desirable  locality.  Fashion  and  learn- 
ing flashed  about  the  vicinity  of  Columbia  College, 
whose  campus,  flanked  by  sedate,  scholarly  looking 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  121 

buildings  and  shaded  by  great  elms  and  plane  trees, 
was  bounded  by  College  Place,  Murray,  Barclay, 
and  Church  streets. 

The  main  business  thoroughfare  was  Pearl 
Street,  where  were  to  be  found  the  big  wholesale 
houses.  South  Street  was  the  headquarters  of  the 
shipping  merchants  and  importers,  and  Front  and 
Water  streets  were  occupied  by  wholesale  grocers, 
iron  dealers,  and  commission  merchants.  The 
desertion  of  Pearl  Street  in  favor  of  Broadway 
went  on  unceasingly  during  the  second  quarter  of 
the  century.  In  i85i,when  the  homelike  features 
of  lower  Broadway  had  virtually  become  elim- 
inated, a  writer  in  the  Commercial  Advertiser 
cited  the  windmill  in  the  city's  coat-of-arms  as  — 

Strongly  typical  of  that  idiosyncrasy  of  change 
which  appears  to  be  characteristic,  not  only  of 
New-  York  citizens,  but  of  the  city  itself. 

The  expression  has  lost  none  of  its  force  to- 
day.    He  adds: 

We  notice  that  Messrs.  Betts,  Sellick  &  Betts, 
the  senior  partner  of  whom  has  kept  his  carpet 
warehouse  in  Pearl  Street  near  Chatham  Street 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  have  an- 
nounced their  intention  to  move  to  Deforest's 
beautiful  store  in  Broadway,  opposite  the  Irving 
House.  We  must  admit  that  the  new  locality  is 
much  better  for  their  business,  yet  we  feel  mor- 
tified that  so  inveterate  a  conservative  as  Mr. 
Betts  cannot  successfully  resist  this  predominant 
spirit  of  change. 


122  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Although  lower  Broadway  and  some  of  the  more 
important  streets  were  well  paved  and  kept  fairly- 
clean,  the  general  condition  of  the  city's  streets 
was  not  such  as  is  demanded  to-day.  Swine 
roamed  about  at  will  and  grew  fat  upon  what  they 
found  in  the  streets.  The  presence  of  sleek-looking 
hogs  in  certain  views  of  old  New  York  is  no  idle  or 
artistic  fancy.  A  visitor  from  abroad  in  1829 
speaks  of  swine  roaming  at  large,  while  ashes  and 
rubbish  were  thrown  into  the  middle  of  the  streets. 
A  few  years  later  another  traveler  describes  the 
streets  next  to  the  river  as  "narrow,  dirty,  and 
adorned  by  large  fat  swine." 

Postage  was  an  expensive  luxury  and  so  was 
traveling,  for  there  were  no  railroads.  Although 
Fulton  had  demonstrated  the  success  of  steam 
navigation  on  the  Hudson  River  in  1807,  com- 
paratively few  steamboats  were  in  use.  It  cost 
6  cents  to  send  a  letter  thirty  miles,  10  cents  up 
to  eighty  miles,  and  25  cents  to  a  point  four  hun- 
dred miles  or  over.  The  post-office  employed 
six  letter  carriers.  When  it  moved  into  the  base- 
ment of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  it  had  a  staff 
of  twenty-five  employees. 

The  post-office  remained  in  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
change until  that  building  was  burned  in  the  great 
fire  of  1835.  It  was  one  of  the  few  buildings  of 
which  the  citizens  always  spoke  with  conscious 
pride.  It  was  completed  in  1827,  and  had  a  front- 
age of  115  feet  on  Wall  Street,  standing  where  the 
custom   house   was,    and    where    the    City    Bank 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


123 


is  now  located.  It  was  constructed  of  white 
Westchester  marble  with  grand  Ionic  columns  in 
front,  the  general  design  being  taken  from  a  temple 
of  Minerva  in  Ionia.  Gideon  Tucker,  who  later 
became  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Chemical  Bank, 
was  the  builder.  On  the  main  floor  was  the  large 
exchange  room,  and  here  the  merchants,  particu- 
larly those  engaged  in  shipping  and  importing,  met 
for  a  daily  interchange  of  trade  talk.  The  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  had  rooms  on  the  second  floor. 


Slfnm   ©ot»    Boat   Company, 

Between  New-York  and  Philadelphia,  via.  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal, 

for  (At  tvmxya%a  of  Affrcfamdiic,  Specif,  Bnggagt,  tfv.,  ift;  and  lnuiratux  effected  tcAroi-pt/  required,  on  any  Paciajzc,  to  iU  fuil  amottat  n  mint 


On  the  roof  was  a  station  to  which  the  arrival  of 
vessels  was  signaled  from  Sandy  Hook  by  means 
of  flags. 

The  fast  route  to  Philadelphia  was  by  the  Union 
Line,  which,  by  means  of  steamboats  from  New 
York  to  New  Brunswick,  then  by  stage  to  Tren- 
ton, and  from  there  by  steamboat  to  Philadelphia, 
made  the  trip  in  one  day.  A  special  boat  left  the 
Battery  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  its 
passengers  reached  Philadelphia  the  same  after- 


i24  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

noon,  paying,  however,  for  this  excessive  speed  a 
fare  of  #4,  one  dollar  more  than  the  all-day  trip. 
Peculiar  interest  is  attached  to  this  Union  Line, 
because  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  was,  for  a  time,  cap- 
tain of  one  of  the  steamboats  plying  between  the 
Battery  and  New  Brunswick. 

Bowling  Green,  the  Battery,  and  City  Hall  Park, 
the  latter  then  including  all  the  ground  now 
covered  by  the  post-office,  were  the  only  parks 
worthy  of  the  name.  St.  John's  Square,  opposite 
St.  John's  Chapel,  might  be  included  in  this  list, 
but  its  use  was  limited  to  the  residents  of  that 
fashionable  locality.  Fashion,  as  well  as  the  little 
park,  have  long  since  gone.  Now  the  big  freight 
depot  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  occupies 
the  site. 

City  Hall  Park  was  known  simply  as  "  the  park." 
It  was  the  scene  of  every  important  celebration 
from  the  early  Revolutionary  days  when  the  Sons 
of  Liberty  defended  their  liberty  pole  from  the 
attacks  of  the  loyalists.  Although  the  city  has 
spread  with  giant  strides  above  it,  the  historic 
spot  has  by  no  means  lost  its  prestige  as  the  scene 
of  civic  festivities.  Two  of  the  greatest  cele- 
brations ever  held  there  occurred  immediately 
after  the  organization  of  the  Chemical  Bank. 
One  was  in  the  same  year,  when  the  city  paid  a 
royal  tribute  to  General  Lafayette,  and  the  other 
was  in  1825,  to  commemorate  the  completion  of 
the  Erie  Canal. 

The  visit  of  Lafayette,  close  upon  the  eve  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  125 

fiftieth  anniversary  of  American  Independence, 
was  a  notable  event.  As  he  journeyed  from  one 
town  and  city  to  another,  revisiting  battlefields 
where  he  could  claim  the  merit  of  having  played 
an  active  part,  he  was  everywhere  received,  not 
only  with  outward  manifestations  of  welcome,  but 
with  those  deeper  sentiments  of  the  heart  which 
attested  the  sincere  love  of  the  people.  Lafayette 
arrived  in  New  York  Harbor  on  Sunday,  August 
15th.  The  following  day  he  landed  at  Castle  Gar- 
den. His  ride  up  Broadway  was  one  continuous 
ovation.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
B.  P.  Melick,  with  the  other  officers  and  employees 
of  the  Chemical  Bank,  saw  the  distinguished  guest 
as  he  passed  the  Bank  building  at  216  Broadway. 
It  is  said  that  General  Lafayette  was  so  affected 
at  the  warmth  of  his  reception  that,  upon  ar- 
riving at  the  City  Hall,  he  was  forced  to  rest  for 
several  moments  to  overcome  his  emotion  before 
addressing  the  people.  He  was  then  sixty-seven 
years  old. 

The  Erie  Canal  celebration  was  preceded  by  an 
event  unusual  even  in  the  uncertainties  of  New 
York  political  history.  This  was  the  removal  by 
the  legislature,  in  less  than  two  weeks  after  grant- 
ing the  charter  to  the  Chemical  Bank,  of  De  Witt 
Clinton  as  Canal  Commissioner.  To  the  unceas- 
ing efforts  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  more  than  to  any 
other  man,  was  due  the  success  of  the  canal. 
"Clinton's  big  ditch"  was  the  term  derisively 
applied   by   his   political   enemies.     For   fourteen 


126  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

years  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Canal  Board, 
drawing  no  salary.  Now,  when  the  great  work  was 
practically  finished,  he  was  removed.  The  deed 
proved  a  veritable  boomerang.  Indignation  meet- 
ings were  held  all  over  the  state  and  one  was 
called  in  the  park.  In  the  fall  of  1824  Clinton  was 
elected  Governor  by  a  larger  majority  than  had 
been  given  to  any  previous  candidate.  He  had 
been  Governor  for  the  first  time  in  1817,  when  the 
canal  was  started. 

The  celebration  began  at  Buffalo  on  October 
26,  1825.  A  splendid  canal  boat,  the  Seneca 
Chief,  having  Governor  Clinton  and  other  nota- 
bles on  board,  was  towed  from  one  end  of  the 
canal  to  the  other.  The  boat  arrived  in  New  York 
on  November  4th.  There  was  an  elaborate  naval 
parade,  followed  by  a  monster  land  parade. 
Governor  Clinton  was  escorted  to  the  City  Hall, 
and  in  the  evening  the  building  was  illuminated  as 
it  had  never  been  before.  Charles  King,  when 
president  of  Columbia  College,  said,  in  referring 
to  this  event: 

I  know  it  is  common  to  speak  of  each  cele- 
bration in  turn  as  the  finest,  but  I,  who  have 
witnessed  a  great  many  fine  pageants  here  and 
elsewhere,  have  never  seen  one  which,  in  all  its 
eifects  and  moral  considerations  and  actual  dis- 
play on  land  and  water,  equaled  the  Canal  Jubilee 
of  November  4,  1825. 

Of  the  buildings  in  the  park  at  that  time  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  127 

City  Hall  alone  remains.  It  furnished  ample 
accommodations  for  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  Street 
Commissioner,  Surrogate,  Sheriff,  Grand  Jury, 
Health  Commissioner,  Police  Headquarters,  the 
District,  Mayor's  and  Superior  Courts,  their 
clerks  and  other  officials.  On  the  right  of  the 
City  Hall,  to  the  east,  was  the  Debtors'  Prison, 
where  a  few  delinquents  were  still  incarcerated. 
As  the  Hall  of  Records,  this  building,  that  had 
once  served  as  a  prison  for  American  soldiers,  was 
well  known  up  to  early  in  1903,  when  it  had  to 
join  the  departed  landmarks.  West  of  the  City 
Hall  was  the  Bridewell,  or  city  prison.  This  was 
torn  down  in  1833. 

Near  the  centre  of  the  upper  end  of  the  park, 
where  the  court  house  is  now,  stood  the  New  York 
Institute,  originally  the  almshouse.  In  1816  a 
larger  house  for  the  city's  poor  was  erected  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  grounds.  The  New  York  In- 
stitute was  for  years  the  headquarters  of  various 
societies,  and  the  fact  that  it  afforded  room  for 
many  that  to-day  possess  elaborate  homes  of  their 
own  illustrates  the  infancy  of  the  city  in  many 
respects  at  that  time.  It  was  the  home  of  Scud- 
der's  American  Museum,  the  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts,  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  the  New 
York  Historical  Society,  the  Bible  Society,  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Institute,  the  Savings  Bank,  and 
the  Military  Society,  while  John  Griscom,  prin- 
cipal of  the  high  school  erected  in  1825  in  Crosby 
Street,  between  Grand  and  Broome,  gave  lectures 


128  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

in  one  of  the   rooms  on   chemistry   and   natural 
philosophy. 

The  city  fathers  and  overworked  clerks,  how- 
ever, had  entertainment  of  a  more  spectacular 
nature  close  at  hand.  In  the  rotunda  were  being 
exhibited  panorama  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo, 
the  palace  and  gardens  of  Versailles,  and  other 
scenes.  This  interesting  building,  circular  in 
form  and  surmounted  by  a  dome,  fronted  on 
Chambers  Street,  a  little  to  the  east  of  the 
New  York  Institute.  It  was  erected  in  1818 
by  John  Vanderlyn,  one  of  America's  early 
artists. 

There  was  plenty  of  amusement  in  the  city. 
The  famous  Park  Theatre  still  maintained  its 
ascendency,  although  it  was  no  longer  the  only 
home  of  legitimate  drama  in  New  York.  It  was 
really  the  second  Park  Theatre,  for  the  original 
building  was  burned  in  1820.  Theatre  Alley,  in 
its  rear,  is  still  reminiscent  of  its  palmy  days. 
Henry  Placide  first  appeared  on  the  Park  stage  in 
1823  in  his  popular  character  of  Zekiel  Home- 
spun in  "The  Heir  At  Law."  Italian  opera  was 
heard  there  for  the  first  time  in  New  York  in  1825, 
under  the  auspices  of  Signor  Garcia  and  his  cele- 
brated daughter,  who  later  became  Madame 
Malibran.  Other  popular  favorites  in  those  early 
years  were  Henry  Wallack,  Edmund  Kean,  James 
H.  Hackett  and  Mrs.  Hackett,  Edwin  Forrest, 
Charles  Macready,  Charles  and  Fanny  Kemble, 
who  came  here  in   1832;     the  Wheatley   family, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  129 

James  Wallack,  Tyrone  Power,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Joseph  Wood,  and  Mile.  Celeste. 

In  1825  the  Lafayette  Theatre  in  Laurens 
Street,  near  Canal,  was  opened.  The  stage  was 
the  largest  in  the  country.  Notwithstanding  its 
elaborate  appointments,  the  house  was  too  far 
from  the  centre  of  the  city  to  pay  well.  It  was 
finally  destroyed  by  fire  in  1829. 

Beyond  the  city  proper  were  a  number  of  sum- 
mer gardens,  all  providing  light  entertainment. 
The  Vauxhall  Gardens,  at  the  head  of  the  Bowery; 
the  Cold  Spring  Gardens  and  Richmond  Hill 
Theatre,  in  Greenwich  Village,  the  latter  famous 
as  Aaron  Burr's  early  residence,  were  among  the 
most  popular.  The  Vauxhall  Gardens  were  fa- 
mous in  New  York  from  p re-Revolutionary  days, 
but  about  1805  they  were  established  in  their 
most  familiar  home,  south  of  Eighth  Street  and 
between  the  Bowery  and  Broadway.  Lafayette 
Place,  when  cut  through  in  1826,  divided  the 
Gardens,  and  the  fame  of  Vauxhall  declined. 
Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child  visited  them  in  1844, 
and  says: 

There  are  some  notable  old  trees  at  Vauxhall 
which  rustle  right  pleasantly  in  the  breeze.  Col- 
ored lamps  arranged  in  stars  and  circles  light  up 
the  shrubbery  with  a  faint  glimmer,  and  harmonies 
come  down  from  a  band  of  musicians  among  the 
boughs.  I  love  to  sit  on  one  of  the  rustic  benches 
and  gaze  up  into  the  foliage  of  the  tall  trees,  like 
the  dome  of  a  dimly  lighted  cathedral. 


i3o  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

The  Cold  Spring  Gardens,  so  called  from  the 
never-failing  supply  of  cool  water  from  a  spring, 
overlooked  the  Hudson  River  in  the  vicinity 
of  Washington  and  Leroy  streets.  The  famous 
Richmond  Hill  house,  with  its  once  luxuriant 
gardens,  was  opened  as  a  theatre  in  183 1,  but 
underwent  frequent  changes  in  management  and 
name.  Mrs.  Adams,  in  some  of  her  charming 
letters,  has  pictured  the  rural  beauty  of  the  place 
when  it  was  occupied  by  Vice-President  John 
Adams  in  1789. 

Besides  these  out-of-town  resorts,  there  were 
other  gardens,  equally  popular,  within  the  im- 
mediate precincts  of  the  city,  Contoit's  New  York 
Gardens,  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway,  between 
Leonard  and  Franklin  streets,  being  a  particu- 
larly favorite  resort.  William  Niblo  opened  the 
Sans  Souci  Gardens,  later  known  as  Niblo's,  in 
1826.  On  Chatham  Street,  now  Park  Row,  be- 
tween Pearl  and  Duane  streets,  was  a  little  place 
of  amusement  known  as  the  Chatham  Garden. 
In  1823  a  pavilion  theatre  was  erected  there  by  the 
proprietor,  Henry  Barriers.  Admission  was  25 
cents.  The  method  of  securing  reserved  seats  is 
thus  explained  in  his  opening  advertisement: 

Families  desirous  of  securing  places  will  please 
send  their  servants  with  their  card  of  address  and 
the  number  of  seats  to  be  secured,  at  the  time 
of  opening  the  doors;  the  servants  will  be  per- 
mitted to  retain  possession  of  the  seats  for  their 
masters  till  the  end  of  the  first  act,  after  which 


— ^—  ■  -.::; |  *^n^_;i 


CONTOIT  S  CARDEX  —  iS;o 


BROADWAY    AND  URA.\D  STREET— 1840 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  131 

on  no  account  will  they  be  suffered   to  remain  in 
the  Garden. 


Lovers  of  the  circus  could  see  wonderful  feats 
of  horsemanship  in  a  large  wooden  building  on  the 
east  side  of  Broadway,  between  Grand  and  How- 
ard streets. 

Rapid  transit,  as  defined  to-day,  was  unknown. 
Business  men,  as  a  rule,  lived  within  easy  walking 
distance  of  their  offices,  and  many  of  the  larger 
tradesmen  as  well  as  the  smaller  shopkeepers 
lived  in  the  buildings  in  which  they  had  their 
stores.  The  big,  lumbering  stages  did  not  become 
a  necessity  until  a  few  years  later,  and  not  until 
1832  was  heard  the  merry  tinkle  of  the  horse-car 
bell.  Even  then,  when  there  was  some  opposition 
to  the  laying  of  car  tracks  in  the  Bowery,  John 
Mason,  in  its  defence,  asserted  that  not  more  than 
seventy  stages  were  likely  to  suffer  by  the  possible 
transfer  of  freight  to  the  railroad.  Private  stages 
from  Niblo's,  Vauxhall,  and  other  outlying  resorts 
were  run  into  the  city  for  the  accommodation  of 
patrons  on  special  occasions. 

The  two  main  thoroughfares  out  of  town  were 
the  Eastern  Post  Road,  by  which  name  the  New 
York  end  of  the  old  Boston  Post  Road  was  known, 
and  the  Bloomingdale  Road.  The  former  ran  to 
Harlem  and  beyond,  following  in  a  more  or  less 
circuitous  route  the  present  line  of  Third  Avenue, 
while  the  latter  ran  to  Manhattanville,  the  wes- 
tern part  of  Harlem,  Kingsbridge  and  more  dis- 


i3  2  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

tant  points.  Houston  Street,  then  called  North 
Street,  was  practically  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  city.  Some  idea  of  its  appearance  in  1823 
may  be  had  from  the  following  advertisement  in 
the  Commercial  Advertiser  of  April  4th : 

To  Let.  The  two-story  brick  house  situated 
at  the  corner  of  the  First  Avenue,  corner  of  North 
and  Allen  streets,  with  about  an  acre  and  a  half 
of  ground  laid  out  as  a  garden  with  a  great  variety 
of  excellent  fruit,  a  well  of  good  water,  stable,  etc. 
The  house  is  handsomely  furnished  and  replete 
with  every  convenience  for  a  genteel  family. 

First  Avenue  was  opened  as  far  north  as  Belle- 
vue  Hospital.  Second  Avenue  ran  to  Kip's  Bay, 
above  Thirty-fourth  Street,  where  the  grand  old 
Kip  House  was  standing,  surrounded  by  fertile 
fields.  This  survivor  of  Dutch  days  was  built  in 
1655,  and,  just  as  it  completed  its  second  century, 
was  leveled  to  the  ground  to  permit  the  cutting 
through  of  Thirty-fifth  Street. 

Yorkville  was  a  small  village  chiefly  known  as 
the  summer  resort  of  wealthy  merchants,  who  built 
grand  old  homesteads,  surrounded  with  broad 
piazzas,  on  the  high  embankment  overlooking  the 
Harlem  River  from  Fifty-ninth  to  Ninetieth 
Street.  John  Jacob  Astor,  Nathaniel  Prime, 
Archibald  Gracie,  the  Schermerhorn,  Jones,  and 
Provost  families  had  country  seats  there.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Archibald  Gracie  house,  now 
preserved  in  the  East  River  Park,  the  Nathaniel 
Prime  house,  hidden  from  sight  by  the  walls  of  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  133 

large  orphan  asylum,  and  the  stone  house  built 
for  Col.  William  Stephens  Smith  in  1799,  m  Sixty- 
first  Street  near  First  Avenue,  practically  every 
vestige  of  these  fashionable  residences,  together 
with  the  natural  beauties  of  the  place,  has  dis- 
appeared. Even  the  grand  old  trees  that  were 
the  pride  of  Jones's  Wood  have  gone.  Hundreds  of 
men,  still  young  in  years,  can  recall  the  sports  and 
other  amusements  which  used  to  make  the  name 
of  Jones's  Wood  a  synonym  for  festive  gayety. 

The  rural  beauty  of  the  spot  caused  it  to  be  pro- 
posed for  a  public  park  in  1851,  but  the  plans  were 
soon  modified  in  favor  of  Central  Park. 

The  Street  Commissioners  in  1807  set  apart  a 
small  plot  of  ground  between  Sixty-sixth  and 
Sixty-ninth  streets,  between  Fifth  and  Third 
avenues,  to  be  known  as  Hamilton  Square.  This 
little  square,  since  obliterated,  is  interesting  as 
being  the  site  of  the  first  Yorkville  church,  St. 
James'  Episcopal,  now  at  Madison  Avenue  and 
Seventy-first  Street.  In  the  early  days  it  was  more 
commonly  called  the  Hamilton  Square  Church. 
It  stood  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Lexington 
Avenue  and  Sixty-ninth  Street,  and  was  a  plain 
wooden  building,  completed  and  consecrated  in 
1810  by  Bishop  Benjamin  Moore.  Trinity  Parish 
assisted  it  liberally.  John  Mason  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  this  church;  his  name  appears  among 
the  first  vestrymen,  while  Joshua  Jones  and  Isaac 
Jones  were  two  of  the  three  inspectors  of  elec- 
tion. 


i34  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Washington  Square  ceased  to  be  a  potter's  field 
in  1825,  when  the  public  burying  ground  was  re- 
moved to  the  fields  between  Fifth  and  Sixth 
avenues,  Thirty-ninth  and  Forty-third  streets. 
Bryant  Park  is  now  a  remnant  of  this  field.  Madi- 
son Square,  much  larger  than  at  present,  was  the 
parade  ground.  Just  above  Twenty-third  Street 
and  overlooking  Fifth  Avenue,  then  familiarly 
called  the  Middle  Road,  was  the  House  of  Refuge, 
opened  in  1825.  The  buildings  had  originally 
been  used  as  a  Government  arsenal,  and  were  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  stone  wall.  In  1828  a  New  York 
guide-book  states  that  "the  Broadway  coach  will 
take  passengers  for  12J  cents  to  within  a  short  dis- 
tance of  the  place,  about  two  miles  from  City 
Hall."  The  State  prison  from  1796  to  1825  was 
in  the  village  of  Greenwich  overlooking  the  Hud- 
son. The  penitentiary,  in  addition  to  the  alms- 
house, was  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  grounds  in  the 
far  east  side  of  the  city. 

Nine  newspapers  furnished  information  to  the 
inhabitants,  but  the  news  was  not  so  thoroughly 
up  to  date  as  is  necessary  for  metropolitan  jour- 
nalism to-day.  European  news  depended  upon  the 
speed  of  the  fast-sailing  packet  ships.  Notices 
like  the  following,  which  appeared  in  a  New  York 
paper  of  April  17,  1824,  were  frequent: 

By  arrival  of  the  brig  Duxbury,  Captain  Drew, 
at  Boston,  we  have  received,  ink  addition  to  proof 
sheets  from  our  correspondents  at  that  place,  the 
London  Globe  and  Traveller  of  the  sixth  of  March. 


z, 

w 

o 

33 

o 
a 

o 


W 
D 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  135 

Then  follows  a  full  page  of  foreign  intelligence 
taken  from  these  six  weeks  old  papers.  The 
news  did  not  always  arrive  so  rapidly,  as  is  seen 
by  this  statement  of  December  2,  1831: 

It  is  now  fifty-two  days  since  our  last  advices 
left  the  shores  of  Europe,  an  unusually  long  period 
for  our  ships  to  linger  on  the  main. 

William  Cullen  Bryant,  who  had  already  ac- 
quired enviable  reputation  as  a  poet,  assumed  the 
editorship  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post  in  1828, 
and  William  L.  Stone  was  editor  of  the  Commercial 
Advertiser.  The  literary  life  of  the  period  was  by 
no  means  crude.  Among  the  popular  writers 
were  Washington  Irving,  James  Fenimore  Cooper, 
Fitz  Greene  Halleck,  James  K.  Paulding,  Gulian 
C.  Verplanck,  N.  P.  Willis,  Lewis  Gaylord  Clark, 
and  George  P.  Morris. 

New  York  in  1824  was  a  delightful  little  city, 
full  of  business  and  social  activity;  although  they 
lacked  many  of  the  benefits  of  modern-day  prog- 
ress, there  is  no  indication  that  the  citizens  were 
less  happy  amid  surroundings  which  the  twentieth 
century  critic  may  sometimes  smile  at  as  provincial 
and  old  fashioned. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    CHEMICAL    MANUFACTURING    COMFANY 

The  establishment  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  as 
observed  in  Part  I  of  this  volume,  followed  upon 
the  incorporation,  at  Albany,  February  24,  1823, 
of  "The  New  York  Chemical  Manufacturing 
Company  without  Banking  Privileges."  The 
aims  were  to  be  the  manufacturing  of  "blue  vit- 
riol, alum,  oil  of  vitriol,  aquafortis,  nitric  acid, 
muriatic  acid,  alcohol,  tartar  emetic,  refined  cam- 
phor, saltpetre,  borax,  copperas,  corrosive  sub- 
limate, calomel,  and  other  drugs,  medicines,  paints, 
and  dyers'  colors. " 

John  C.  Morrison,  James  Jenkins,  and  Charles 
G.  Haines  were  appointed  commissioners  to  re- 
ceive subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock.  Under 
the  amended  charter  granting  general  banking 
privileges,  in  1824,  Gerardus  Post  was  substi- 
tuted in  place  of  Charles  G.  Haines.  The 
capital,  $500,000,  remained  unchanged,  but  it 
was  specified  that  $100,000  must  be  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  chemicals.  The  autograph 
receipt  of  Balthazar  P.  Melick,  first  president  of 
the  company,  also  of  the  Bank,  acknowledging 
$50,000    received  from  the  commissioners,  being 

136 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  137 

10  per  cent,  on  the  capital  stock,  is  still  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Bank.     It  is  dated  June  15,  1824. 

Soon  after  its  incorporation  the  company  pur- 
chased the  chemical  and  drug  factory  in  Green- 
wich Village  owned  by  John  C.  Morrison.  It 
occupied  the  southwest  corner  of  Hudson  and  Gan- 
sevoort  streets,  the  latter  street  in  the  early  records 
being  known  as  the  Great  Kill  Road.  The  price 
paid  was  #37,219.  This  plot  of  land  had  a  front- 
age of  88  feet  9  inches  on  the  west  side  of  Hud- 
son Street  and  62  feet  3  inches  on  the  south  side 
of  Gansevoort  Street. 

John  C.  Morrison  was  one  of  the  prime  organi- 
zers of  the  company.  He  was  a  director  and  acted 
as  agent  of  the  company  until  1832.  He  was 
evidently  the  practical  chemist  in  the  concern. 
For  years  he  was  one  of  the  largest  wholesale 
druggists  in  the  city,  his  store  being  at  186  and 
188  Greenwich  Street,  between  Vesey  and  Fulton 
streets. 

In  1825  the  company  abandoned  its  Greenwich 
Village  property  and  moved  uptown,  purchasing, 
during  1825  to  1827,  a  large  plot  of  land  on  the 
Hudson  River  between  Thirty-second  and  Thirty- 
fourth  streets,  and  running  back  to  Tenth  Avenue. 
While  it  does  not  appear  that  any  further  use  was 
made  of  the  old  property,  it  was  retained  until 
1834,  when  it  was  sold  to  George  W.  Tucker,  a 
hardware  merchant  of  87  Chatham  Street,  for 
$6,000.  The  wide  difference  between  the  selling 
price  and  the  much  larger  sum  paid  for  the  prop- 


138  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

erty  is  evidently  due  to  the  value  of  the  factory, 
the  contents  of  which  had  been  moved,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  the  new  headquarters. 

The  new  home  of  the  Chemical  Manufacturing 
Company  was  a  portion  of  the  old  Rem  Rapelje 
farm,  which  originally  extended  from  Thirtieth 
to  Fortieth  Street,  Eighth  Avenue  and  the  river. 
The  Rapelje  family  is  famous  in  the  Dutch  annals 
of  New  York  from  the  fact  that  the  first  child  of 
white  parents  born  in  the  little  city  of  New  Amster- 
dam was  of  that  family.  The  child  was  named 
Sarah  de  Rapelje.  Rem  Rapelje  purchased  his 
New  York  farm  shortly  after  the  Revolution.  It 
was  then  far  out  of  town;  neighbors  were  scarcer 
than  they  are  to-day  in  many  farming  districts 
of  New  England. 

Several  years  before  Rem  Rapelje  began  to 
cultivate  his  fields  an  attempt  had  been  made  to 
manufacture  glass  bottles  on  the  property,  and  a 
small  wooden  house  was  erected  for  the  purpose. 
The  project  did  not  succeed,  but  the  name  clung 
to  the  place  for  years.  When  the  Chemical 
Manufacturing  Company  moved  there  the  lo- 
cality was  still  known  as  the  "Glass  House  Farm." 
Among  the  real  estate  advertisements  in  the  New 
York  Gazette  early  in  1813  is  the  following: 

TO  LET  —  That  part  of  the  old  Glass  House 
Farm  adjoining  the  Greenwich  Road,  situated 
about  three  miles  from  the  town  and  containing 
about  35  acres.  An  excellent  situation  for  a  milk 
man.     Inquire  of  A.  L.  Stewart,  225  Broadway. 


FARM  HOUSE  OF  RAPELJE   PROPERTY,  AFTERWARD  FACTORY 
OF  CHEMICAL  MFC  CO. 


I-         \     ■  ■■         -n     .  i,       \...  tl,  Ilin  r 

\'vv\v  to  vwwwr 

■  .   » .'■■..„■.,■..:  . 

I  •  •■—*■  .  ■«.    ..I   ltd    \i  .1  tuil.llMhiUMl     M»ll|iltli  lit] '   '- 


\ 


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fT4  t  i.       /t  0  4  Q      O  C  "0T 


\  L 

MAP   OF    NEW    YORK    CHEMICAL   MFG.    GO'S.    PROPERTY 
THIRTIETH  STREET  AND  TENTH  AVENUE 


i  .    i 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  139 

Previous  to  the  Revolution  the  Glass  House 
Farm  was  a  portion  of  the  large  estate  of  the  Eng- 
lish admiral,  Sir  Peter  Warren,  whose  magnificent 
summer  home  overlooked  the  Hudson  in  the  old 
Chelsea  Village  section.  The  old  Rapelje  farm- 
house, typical  of  the  simplicity  of  the  early  Dutch 
farming  days,  stood  unmolested  for  many  years, 
even  amid  the  encroachments  of  city  life,  near  the 
foot  of  Thirty-fifth  Street,  overlooking  the  river. 
It  was  torn  down  in  1865. 

Another  real  estate  advertisement  of  much  in- 
terest as  showing  the  relative  value  of  the  property 
in  the  vicinity  of  Thirty-fourth  Street  eighty  years 
ago,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  important 
terminal  improvements  which  have  been  made 
there  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  is  found  in  a 
New  York  newspaper  of  February  1,  1832.  James 
Bleecker  &  Sons  gave  notice  of  a  sale  about  to  be 
held  of  twenty- two  lots,  each  25  by  100  feet,  on 
Tenth  Avenue: 

Opposite  the  Chemical  Factory,  bounded  by 
32d,  33d  and  34th  streets.  It  is  as  fine  a  situation 
for  a  country  seat  as  any  on  this  Island,  command- 
ing a  fine  view  of  the  North  River,  etc.  It  is  now 
enclosed  with  a  good  fence.  On  the  premises  is 
a  well  of  good  water,  stable  and  a  number  of  good 
fruit  trees. 

The  Manufacturing  Company  was  still  active 
up  to  1832.  Among  the  papers  of  the  old  com- 
pany still  in  possession  of  the   Bank   is   a   small 


i4o  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

order  book,  and  although  the  entries  are  not  as 
numerous  as  would  be  looked  for  in  a  concern 
whose  first  aim  was  to  manufacture  and  sell 
chemicals,  it  nevertheless  shows  that  the  leading 
druggists  of  the  city  were  included  among  the 
customers.  Among  them  are  found  the  following 
names,  and  many  of  the  firms  are  still  prominent 
in  the  trade  of  to-day — i.e.,  Colgate  &  Bros.,  10 
Gold  Street;  Seth  Low  &  Co.,  115  Maiden  Lane; 
Howland  Keese  &  Co.,  80  Maiden  Lane;  P.  G. 
Acularius  &  Co.;  Olcott  &  McKesson;  Rushton  & 
Aspinwall;  Robinson  &  Cornell;  A.  Tieman  &  Co.; 
Rudyard  &  Whittlesley;  I.  &  I.  F.  Tripp;  Pentz  & 
Co.;  H.  M.  Schieffelin  &  Co.,  88  Maiden  Lane, 
who  ordered  on  June  18th,  "20J  barrels  alum  in 
bulk,  10  kegs  do.,  50  pounds  each,  1  load  oil 
vitriol,  1  barrel  blue  vitriol";  Hoadley  Phelps  & 
Co.,  142  Water  Street,  ordered  "7  carboys  oil 
vitriol  to-morrow";  Jeffries  &  Catterfield  bought 
of  the  trustees  of  the  New  York  Chemical  Man- 
ufacturing Company,  55  cases  crude  brimstone 
for  #876.46. 

There  was  also  considerable  out-of-town  business 
with  New  England,  New  Orleans,  and  other  points. 
For  example,  Benedict  &  Co.  "  want  by  the  first 
boat  for  New  Haven,  14  large  carboys  oil  vitriol 
and  1  barrel  crude  borax."  H.  Seymour  of  Hart- 
ford orders  "7  carboys  oil  vitriol  by  the  Mer- 
chant, this  afternoon;  lays  at  Burling  Slip";  Miles 
J.  Fletcher,  "by  Sloop  Victory  Thursday  morn- 
ing";   Lodi  Print  Works   "  by  schooner  for  Hack- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   CHEMICAL  BANK  141 

ensack";  J.  &  W.  Williams  of  Utica  "by  the  Troy 
tow  boat";  W.W.  &  C.  Laflin  "want  by  sloop, 
Coenties  Slip";  Hopkinson  &  Ward  "first  packet"; 
Francis  Phillippon,  Natchez,  "for  New  Orleans, 
Pier    18   or    19." 

There  were  about  half  a  dozen  frame  buildings  on 
the  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company's  property 
which  were  for  the  manufacture  of  different  chemi- 
cals. When,  in  1844,  the  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, by  the  provisions  of  its  charter,  ceased  to 
exist,  these  houses  were  no  longer  used  for  their 
original  purposes,  although  the  trustees  kept  an 
office  in  one  of  them  until  the  affairs  of  the  com- 
pany were  settled  in  1850.  A  record  of  a  lease  is 
extant  of  a  frame  dwelling  in  Thirty-third  Street, 
to  Boving  &  Witte,  commission  merchants,  "ex- 
cept the  basement,  as  an  office,  and  also  the  frame 
buildings  in  the  rear  on  Thirty-second  Street, 
known  as  the  Aqua  Fortis,  Muriatic,  and  Borax 
houses."  The  yearly  rental  was  #200.  In  1849 
two  of  the  houses  were  used  as  grocery  stores,  and 
the  six  buildings  were  insured  for  $3,200. 

Besides  these  buildings,  the  company  had  made 
other  improvements.  In  June,  1832,  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  granted  permission  to  the  company  to 
erect  a  stone  wall  between  high  and  low  water 
mark,  bounding  the  river  front  of  the  property,  and 
in  1838  a  pier  forty  feet  wide  was  built  at  the  foot 
of  Thirty-third  Street.  Tenth  Avenue  had  been 
macadamized  shortly  before,  and  this  pier  was 
built  of  the  surplus  stone. 


i42  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

From  the  assessments  made  upon  the  property 
from  time  to  time  it  is  easy  to  note  the  steady 
march  of  city  improvements.  In  1826  the  com- 
pany was  assessed  £1,190  for  opening  Thirty- 
second  Street.  In  1846,  £200.78  was  paid  for 
opening  Eleventh  Avenue  above  Thirty-second 
Street;  in  1848,  for  regulating  and  setting  the  curb 
and  gutters  in  Tenth  Avenue  and  Twenty-eighth 
to  Fortieth  Street,  the  company  paid  £528.62, 
while  in  1847  the  curious  entry  appears  of  £63.25 
being  paid  "for  a  well  and  pump  lately  placed  in 
Thirty-third    Street    between    Ninth    and    Tenth 


avenues." 


A  special  bill  had  to  be  passed  at  Albany  author- 
izing the  sale  of  the  property.  It  was  signed  by 
Governor  Hamilton  Fish  on  March  9,  1850.  The 
notice  of  the  sale,  published  in  several  of  the  daily 
newspapers  early  in  April,  was: 

By  Cole  &  Chilton,  9  Wall  Street,  corner  New. 
Peremptory  sale,  12  o'clock,  April  10,  at  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  of  valuable  lots  of  ground  and 
water  right  at  foot  of  Thirty-second  Street,  North 
River.  Sold  by  order  of  Trustees  of  the  New  York 
Chemical  Manufacturing  Company.  16  lots  on 
west  side  of  Tenth  Avenue,  comprising  whole  front 
of  blocks  from  32nd  to  34th  Steets;  48  lots  in  block 
bounded  by  10th  and  nth  Avenues,  32nd  and 
33rd  Streets;  9  lots  on  33rd  and  34th  Streets, 
commencing  100  feet  west  of  Tenth  Avenue;  8 
lots  on  east  side  of  nth  Avenue,  between  33rd  and 
34th  Streets,  the  whole  front  of  block;  64  lots, 
entire  block  bounded  by  nth  and  12th  Avenues, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  143 

32nd  and  33rd  Streets,  included  in  which  is  water 
right  extending  to  the  line  of  the  12th  Avenue; 
4  lots  on  northwest  corner  of  34th  Street  and  10th 
Avenue;  2  lots  in  Brooklyn;  undivided  half  lot  in 
Newark,  southeast  corner  of  Harrison  Street  and 
Maiden  Lane. 

The  terms  of  purchase  were  10  per  cent,  and 
auctioneers'  fees  on  the  day  of  sale;  30  per  cent, 
on  delivery  of  the  deeds,  and  60  per  cent,  on  bond 
and  mortgage  for  three  years  at  6  per  cent. 

The  entire  property  brought  #110,370.  It  was 
a  notable  sale  and  attracted  wide  attention  in  real 
estate  circles.  There  were  over  twenty  purchasers, 
the  heaviest  buyer  being  John  D.  Wolfe,  who 
bought  the  entire  block  of  sixty-four  lots,  with  its 
water  rights,  bounded  by  Eleventh  and  Twelfth 
avenues,  Thirty-second  and  Thirty-third  streets, 
for  $30,500.  He  also  bought  nine  other  lots,  paying 
$2,800  apiece  for  the  corner  lots  on  the  west  side 
of  Eleventh  Avenue  and  Thirty-third  Street  and 
Eleventh  Avenue  and  Thirty-second  Street  re- 
spectively. For  his  entire  purchases  Mr.  Wolfe 
paid  $47,900. 

Bradish  Johnson  bought  nine  lots;  H.  R.  Dun- 
ham, seven  lots,  and  Bernard  McKenzie,  nine  lots. 

The  prices  obtained  were  highly  satisfactory, 
although  several  lots  sold  for  less  than  $400  apiece. 
The  taxes  on  the  property  were  $345.46  in  1849, 
on  an  assessed  valuation  of  $35,000. 

Between  1844  and  1851  two  payments  on  the 
stock  held  by  the  shareholders  of  the  Manufactur- 


i44  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

ing  Company  were  made,  amounting  to  a  total  of 
$26.60  on  each  share,  the  par  value  being  $25. 
The  first  payment  was  $20  in  1844,  and  resulted 
in  the  paying  off  of  a  total  of  $400,000  on  the  orig- 
inal capital  stock  of  20,000  shares.  In  1851  the 
final  payment  of  $6.60  was  made,  giving  a  total 
of  $132,000.  The  trustees  at  the  time  of  the  pay- 
ment of  this  final  installment,  which  was  the  closing 
act  in  the  existence  of  the  New  York  Chemical 
Manufacturing  Company,  were:  Isaac  Jones, 
George  Jones,  William  T.  McCoun,  A.  Gordon 
Hamersley,  Moses  Tucker,  and  George  B. 
Gilbert.  The  seventh  trustee  in  1844  nacl  been 
Gideon  Tucker,  but  he  had  died  in  the  interval. 

The  office  of  the  New  York  Chemical  Manu- 
facturing Company  was  at  17  Park  Place  in  March, 
1847,  and  at  4  Park  Place  in  March,  1850. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    BANK'S    FIRST    HOME  2l6    BROADWAY 

From  a  private  home  to  a  banking  house,  from 
a  banking  house  to  a  museum,  from  a  museum  to 
the  publication  offices  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
and  then  to  another  banking  house  and  the  tower- 
ing St.  Paul  Building  —  such  have  been  the  trans- 
formations of  the  historic  Broadway  and  Ann 
Street  corner  since  the  year  1824,  when  the  Chemi- 
cal Bank  chose  the  little  red-brick  building  at  216 
Broadway,  one  door  below  the  corner,  for  its  first 
home. 

The  site  on  which  the  Chemical  Bank's  first 
home  stood  possesses  an  interesting  history.  The 
property  in  early  Dutch  days  was  one  of  the  out- 
lying city  farms,  known  as  the  Shoemakers'  Pas- 
ture, but  it  was  sometimes  called  Tienhoven's 
Plantation.  It  contained  sixteen  acres  east  of 
Broadway,  extending  from  Maiden  Lane  to  Ann 
Street,  and  was  owned  by  five  shoemakers  and 
tanners.  John  Street  commemorates  one  of  the 
members,  named  in  honor  of  John  Harpending, 
who  came  to  New  York  in  1660  and  plied  his 
shoemaker's  trade  on  Broadway  near  Maiden 
Lane    until  the  time  of  his  death,  in   1723.     He 

US 


146  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

left  a  comfortable  fortune,  a  large  part  of 
which  he  bequeathed  to  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church. 

In  1 71 5  the  old  Shoemakers'  farm  was  cut  up 
into  164  building  lots,  and  the  increased  value  of 
the  land  made  all  the  members  of  the  Shoemakers' 
Association  rich. 

Previous  to  the  Revolution  a  popular  resort 
known  as  the  Spring  Garden  afforded  entertain- 
ment to  the  convivial  spirits  of  the  town.  In 
1760  the  place  was  kept  by  John  Elkin,  whose 
quaint  advertisements  announce  that  he  "serves 
breakfast  from  7  to  9,  tea  in  the  afternoon  from  3 
to  6,  and  keeps  on  hand  a  plentiful  supply  of  pies 
and  tarts." 

Ten  years  later  the  Sons  of  Liberty  bought  the 
tavern.  Under  its  new  name,  Hampden  Hall, 
it  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  Revolutionary 
annals  of  the  city.  With  the  tavern,  a  small  plot 
of  ground  was  purchased  in  the  Fields,  now  the 
City  Hall  Park.  There  Isaac  Sears  and  his  band 
of  "Liberty  Boys"  erected  their  fourth  liberty 
pole.  Three  poles  had  been  cut  down  by  the 
British  soldiery,  the  last  occasion  arousing  such 
a  hostile  demonstration  on  the  part  of  the  young 
patriots  that  the  soldiers  and  populace  met  in 
actual  warfare  on  January  18,  1770,  in  what  has 
since  been  dignified  by  the  name  of  the  Battle  of 
Golden  Hill.  Its  chief  merit  to  fame  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  marked  the  first  bloodshed  in  the 
Revolution.     A  tablet  on   the  northwest   corner 


- 


tt 


*%&■* 


c 
o 


<3 
- 


■J-. 

y 


>~M= 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  147 

of  John  and  William  streets  marks  the  site  of  this 
encounter. 

The  first  big  celebration  in  the  new  home  of  the 
Sons  of  Liberty  took  place  on  March  19,  1770. 
An  indication  of  its  character  is  given  in  the  fol- 
lowing notice  from  Holt's  New  York  Journal  of 
March   8th: 

This  is  to  give  notice  that  the  house  so  pur- 
chased is  the  corner  house  on  the  Broadway  near 
Liberty  Pole,  lately  kept  by  Mr.  Edward  Smith. 
And  all  Sons  of  Liberty,  without  discrimination, 
who  choose  to  commemorate  that  glorious  day, 
are  requested  to  attend  at  the  said  house  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  March  next.  Dinner  will  be 
served  up  at  Two  of  the  Clock. 

It  is  interesting  to  record  that  in  many  of  the 
committee  meetings  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  were 
men  whose  descendants  in  later  years  were  ac- 
tively identified  with  the  fortunes  of  the  Chemical 
Bank.  Peter  Goelet,  for  instance,  appears  on  the 
Committee  of  Fifty-one,  appointed  in  May,  1774, 
to  correspond  with  the  neighboring  colonies  "on 
this  present  important  crisis."  Isaac  Roosevelt 
was  chosen  on  April  16,  1776,  to  represent  the  city 
in  the  Provincial  Congress.  Among  other  New 
York  merchants  associated  with  Peter  Goelet  on 
the  Committee  of  Fifty-one  were  John  Alsop, 
William  Bayard,  John  Jay,  Theophylact  Bache, 
afterward  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce; Nicholas  Hoffman,  Henry  Remsen,  James 
Duane,     Gerardus      W.     Beekman,    Peter     Van 


i48  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

Schaick,  William  Walton,  Philip  Livingston,  Elias 
Desbrosses,  Alexander  McDougal,  and  Leonard 
Lispenard. 

The  Broadway  and  Ann  Street  corner  may,  al- 
most reverently,  be  called  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
Phineas  T.  Barnum.  For  nearly  twenty-five  years, 
from  1841  until  July  13,  1865,  the  fame  which  the 
corner  enjoyed  as  Barnum's  Museum  was  na- 
tional. For  about  ten  years  previous  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  Barnum  it  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  old  American  or  Scudder's  Museum.  John 
Scudder,  who  is  said  to  have  begun  life  as  an  organ 
grinder,  founded  this  museum  in  18 10.  It  was 
originally  located  in  the  New  York  Institute,  the 
old  building  in  the  rear  of  the  City  Hall.  About 
1832  it  moved  to  the  Ann  Street  corner,  occupying 
the  greater  part  of  a  new  building  known  as  the 
"Marble  Building"  from  the  fact  that  the  Broad- 
way front  was  finished  in  light  marble. 

Poor  management,  combined  with  small  ad- 
ditions to  its  stock  of  wonders,  brought  Scudder's 
Museum  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  On  December, 
26,  1 841,  the  entire  collection  was  bought  by  Mr. 
Barnum.  Though  he  had  practically  no  capital, 
by  his  own  confidence  and  the  aid  of  generous 
friends  he  more  than  repaid  their  faith  in  him. 
Even  to-day  the  name  of  Barnum  has  not  lost  its 
suggestive  charm  of  the  circus,  with  the  atten- 
dant collection  of  human  dwarfs,  giants  and  fat 
people. 

Under  Barnum's    skilful  management  the  mu- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  149 

seum  grew  rapidly.  He  was  never  excelled  in 
ability  to  secure  remarkable  specimens,  human  and 
otherwise.  He  understood  to  a  nicety  the  art  of 
exciting  the  curiosity  of  the  public,  so  that  a  visit 
to  Barnum's  became  an  actual  necessity  to  one's 
peace  of  mind.  The  museum  was  filled  with  a 
large  number  of  curiosities  and  relics  of  deep 
historical  interest,  but  they  were  all  destroyed 
when  the  building  was  burned  in  1865. 

In  1850,  on  the  Chemical  Bank's  move  to  its 
present  Broadway  site,  Mr.  Barnum  leased  the 
adjoining  buildings  to  enlarge  his  museum.  In 
making  the  necessary  changes,  the  collapse  of  the 
upper  floors  of  the  building  lately  occupied  by  the 
Chemical  Bank  nearly  caused  a  tragedy.  The 
Evening  Post,  in  its  issue  of  Monday,  April  29, 
1850,  described  the  accident: 

This  morning,  about  10  o'clock,  the  building 
known  as  the  site  of  the  old  Chemical  Bank,  but 
recently  purchased  by  Barnum  with  the  view  of 
adding  it  to  his  museum  establishment,  and  there- 
fore undergoing  alterations  and  repairs,  fell  to  the 
ground.  Some  workmen,  employed  on  the  third 
story,  had  cut  away  the  rafters  very  imprudently, 
as  it  turns  out,  and  before  the  arrival  of  the  fore- 
man, thereby  weakening  the  building  so  much 
that  the  floor  fell  under  the  weight  of  those  stand- 
ing upon  it.  The  second  and  first  stories  were 
carried  along  with  it  down  to  the  very  basement. 
There  were  some  forty  persons  at  work  in  the  house 
who  were  nearly  all  buried  in  the  falling  plaster 
and  bricks,  but  fortunately  most  of  them  were  got 


ISO  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

out.  Only  one  man  was  killed  on  the  spot  and 
two  others  are  supposed  to  be  embedded  in  the 
ruins.  The  wonder  is  that  every  man  in  the  build- 
ing was  not  killed  or  mangled. 

Mr.  Trimble,  the  architect,  when  he  was  told 
of  the  accident,  fell  into  a  fit,  and  was  carried  next 
door  into  Genin's  hat  shop,  where  he  received  at- 
tendance and  was  revived. 

The  building  belonged  to  the  Arden  Estate  and 
not  to  the  Chemical  Bank,  who  had  no  interest  in 
it  whatever,  their  lease  of  the  premises  having  ex- 
pired last  week,  when  they  removed. 

Fortunately,  the  accident  turned  out  to  be  less 
serious  than  the  quickly  written  account  would 
imply.  It  was  found  that  no  one  was  killed, 
though  nine  laborers  were  carried  to  the  New  York 
Hospital  for  treatment.  Hospital  methods  were 
not  as  perfect  as  to-day,  so  one  of  the  lumbering 
Broadway  stages  had  to  be  impressed  into  service 
as  a  temporary  ambulance.  The  driver,  who  at 
first  refused  to  carry  the  injured  men,  was  soon 
brought  to  a  change  of  mind  by  the  police  and 
angry  spectators. 

While  Barnum  was  enlarging  his  museum  he 
was  planning  the  more  ambitious  project  of  bring- 
ing to  this  country  Jenny  Lind,  the  sweet-voiced 
Swedish  singer,  for  a  series  of  concerts.  Her  first 
appearance  under  Barnum's  management  was  in 
Castle  Garden,  September  u,  1850.  The  tickets 
for  the  opening  concert  were  sold  at  auction  and 
the  price  of  $225,  unprecedented  up  to  that  time,  was 
paid  for  first  choice.     John  N.  Genin,  New  York's 


\_ 


- 


,m  m  m- 1 


H10H  .'£  wllry"  ji<        I  I 


|H,    JSL    ,Rs,    B>* 

jl   )  CLOCKS.  WATCHES!5'' 

"  "■'  px:  5  ' :  !:••<£ 

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270  BROADWAY— 1848 


rJTcx!  r;.!-ig? 


RESIDENCE  OF  A.  T.  STEWART 
FIFTH  AVENUE  AND  THIRTY-FOURTH  STREET 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  151 

celebrated  hatter,  whose  store  adjoined  the  old 
Chemical  Bank  Building  at  214  Broadway,  was 
the  purchaser.  It  was  afterward  said  by  his 
friends  that  the  money  he  paid  for  the  first  Jenny 
Lind  ticket  was  the  cheapest  advertising  he  ever 
did  in  his  life.  The  great  panic  of  1857  numbered 
Genin  among  its  victims.  Jenny  Lind's  share 
from  her  first  concert  was  #10,000,  which  she  gave 
to  charity,  the  sum  being  divided  among  twelve 
institutions  in  the  city. 

The  historic  museum  and  several  adjoining 
buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire  on  July  13,  1865, 
whereupon  James  Gordon  Bennett  paid  Barnum 
#200,000  for  the  showman's  eleven  years'  lease  of 
the  property,  and  a  little  later  paid  #500,000  for 
the  Ann  Street  corner,  on  which  he  erected  the 
Herald  building.  In  1866  the  Park  Bank  paid 
#350,000  for  the  Chemical  Bank's  old  site,  216 
Broadway. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    BANK'S    SECOND    HOME 27O    BROADWAY 

When  the  Chemical  Bank,  instead  of  joining 
its  friends  in  the  financial  section  around  Wall 
Street,  moved  in  1850  still  farther  uptown,  the 
step  was  considered  bold  and  almost  hazardous. 
As  the  first  bank  on  Broadway,  the  Chemical  had 
demonstrated  the  success  of  its  faith  in  the  business 
prosperity  of  that  thoroughfare  and  now,  in  putting 
up  the  first  building  that  had  ever  been  erected 
purely  for  banking  purposes  on  Broadway,  a  more 
positive  demonstration  was  given  of  belief  in  the 
future  of  Broadway  as  a  great  commercial  centre. 
It  is  significant,  however,  of  the  general  recogni- 
tion accorded  to  Wall  Street  as  the  financial  centre 
that  in  April,  1853,  the  president  was  authorized 
to  hire  a  room  at  60  Wall  Street  for  the  use  of  the 
directors;  the  rent  was  #200  a  year.  This  room 
was  evidently  retained  only  for  one  year,  since  no 
further  mention  of  it  appears. 

The  plot  of  ground  at  270  Broadway,  one  door 
below  the  Chambers  Street  corner,  upon  which 
the  new  building  was  erected,  had  a  frontage  of 
25  feet  and  was  92  feet  deep.  It  was  acquired  on 
May   2,    1849,   from   Robert   Goelet.     Originally 

152 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  153 

the  land  had  formed  a  part  of  the  historic  church 
farm  owned  by  the  Corporation  of  Trinity  Church. 
How  much  less  it  cost  to  build  a  house  half  a  cen- 
tury ago  may  be  figured  from  the  bank  records 
of  July  6,  1849,  ordering  that  there  should  be  paid 
for  the  mascn  work  of  the  new  building  the 
sum  of  #8,750.  It  was  an  unpretentious  edifice, 
three  stories  high,  with  a  brownstone  front. 
Practically  the  only  attempt  at  its  ornamentation 
was  the  words  "Chemical  Bank,"  cut  in  the  stone 
over  the  door.  This  stone  is  now  in  the  vestibule 
of  the  new  Bank  building.  The  first  meeting  of 
the  directors  was  held  in  their  new  home  on  April 
10,  1850.  There  may  have  been  some  personal 
satisfaction  in  the  fact  that  their  building  towered 
above  all  its  neighbors  in  the  block.  This  uncon- 
scious pride  in  exterior  appearance  could  only  have 
been  maintained  for  a  short  time.  Indeed  long 
before  it  was  demolished  the  Chemical  Bank  had 
run  to  the  other  extreme  and  was  the  smallest 
building  in  that  locality.  It  had  reached,  how- 
ever, the  dignity  of  a  landmark.  Of  all  the 
buildings  in  the  vicinity,  with  the  exception  of  the 
City  Hall  and  the  Astor  House,  three  blocks  be- 
low, it  was  the  oldest. 

The  New  York  directories  tell  us  that  Christian 
Couenhoven  kept  a  small  shoe  store  at  270  Broad- 
way from  1809  to  1 8 17,  and  that  at  271  Broad- 
way was  a  small  green  grocery. 

A  few  years  previous  to  1850,  hotels  and,  later, 
business  houses  had  crowded  out  the  private  res- 


i54  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

idences  that  used  to  overlook  the  park.  In  1850 
Broadway  opposite  the  park  presented  an  un- 
broken business  line.  A  view  of  this  interesting 
section  in  Gleasorfs  Pictorial  for  March,  1851, 
enables  us  to  recall  the  names  of  the  tradesmen 
on  the  west  side  of  Broadway,  and  also  gives 
us  the  exact  appearance  of  these  business  blocks. 
Adjoining  the  Chemical  Bank  on  the  north  was 
Tiffany's,  then  known  as  Tiffany,  Young  &  Ellis, 
with  the  sign  over  the  door,  "Jewelry  and  Fancy 
Goods."  On  the  other  side  of  Chambers  Street 
was  the  popular  Irving  House,  for  many  years  a 
rival  of  the  Astor  House  as  the  fashionable  hotel 
of  the  city.  The  lower  part  of  the  hotel  was  oc- 
cupied by  stores,  among  them  being  Goupil  & 
Co.,  the  Chickering  Piano  Warerooms,  and  the 
china  store  of  Ebenezer  Collamore.  Delmonico 
at  one  time  had  his  restaurant  on  this  corner. 

The  block  south  of  the  Chemical  Bank  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  row  of  small  stores  and  daguerre- 
otype galleries.  In  the  block  between  Murray  and 
Warren  streets  was  the  popular  book  store  of 
Charles  S.  Francis,  and  the  carpet  warehouse  of 
Smith,  Knapp  &  Co.,  now  Shepherd,  Knapp  &  Co. 
In  the  block  below,  at  245,  was  the  carpet  store  of 
W.  &  J.  Sloane,  and  at  247,  on  the  Murray  Street 
corner,  was  the  jewelry  store  of  Ball,  Black  &  Co., 
an  enormous  eagle  surmounting  the  top  of  the 
building. 

To-day,  the  only  building  in  the  locality  (ex- 
cept   the    City    Hall),     which     still    retains    the 


CHEMICAL  NATIONAL  BANK— 1896 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  155 

appearance  of   half   a   century   ago,  is  the  Astor 
House. 

Opposite  the  Irving  House,  where  the  Stewart 
Building  now  stands,  was  the  famous  dry  goods 
store  of  Alexander  T.  Stewart.  He  was  a  close 
friend  of  the  founders  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  a 
stockholder  in  1844,  and  also  one  of  its  large  de- 
positors. His  new  store,  lately  completed,  ex- 
cited the  admiration  of  citizens  and  visitors  alike. 
Says  a  New  York  guide-book  for  1853: 

Beyond  the  City  Hall  and  on  the  line  with 
Broadway  we  discover  a  building  of  snowy  marble, 
whose  size  and  beauty  render  it  a  conspicuous 
object.  This  is  Stewart's  marble  palace,  probably 
the  most  costly  building  in  the  world  owned  and 
occupied  by  one  merchant. 

The  necessity  for  more  room  to  accommodate 
the  Chemical's  business  needs  was  so  clearly  rec- 
ognized during  the  Centennial  year  that  in  1879 
the  Bank  purchased  the  building  at  76  Chambers 
Street,  and  in  1887  added  that  at  78.  The  old 
houses  were  torn  down  to  make  room  for  a  bank 
annex  connected  with  the  main  Broadway  build- 
ing, thus  affording  a  large,  well-lighted  room  facing 
on  Chambers  Street. 

Time  was  moving  very  fast,  however,  and  the 
Bank  soon  outgrew  this  arrangement.  First,  hav- 
ing justified  the  establishment  of  a  bank  on 
Broadway,  the  growth  of  New  York  and  the  in- 
crease in  the  Chemical's  business  made  it  necessary 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

to  move  to  a  new  site,  then  made  an  enlargement 
of  this  site  necessary,  and  finally  in  January,  1905, 
it  was  decided  to  put  a  new  building  on  the  old 
site  at  270  Broadway. 

The  quarters  that  in  1887  had  seemed  ample  for 
all  future  growth  had  become  too  cramped  and 
inconvenient  for  the  satisfactory  conduct  of  the 
Bank's  business.  Moreover,  the  front  and  rear 
buildings  did  not  agree  in  style  or  arrangement 
and  the  directors  felt  that  the  Chemical  Bank 
should  have  a  home  that  would  be  a  credit  to  its 
reputation,  and  a  building  that  would  be  a  perma- 
nent addition  to  the  architectural  beauty  of  New 
York.  Consequently  the  bank  removed  to  tem- 
porary quarters  in  the  Barclay  Building,  303 
Broadway,  on  May  22,  1905,  and  occupied  its 
new  building  on  April  22,  1907. 

However,  before  the  dignified  white  stone 
building  of  the  Chemical  became  a  landmark  on 
Broadway,  the  important  ceremony  of  the  laying 
of  the  cornerstone  took  place,  on  July  12,  1906. 
In  accordance  with  the  custom  of  placing  docu- 
ments in  the  cornerstones  of  institutions,  a  copper 
box  containing  papers,  records,  coin,  and  bills 
was  embedded  in  the  west  wall  of  the  vestibule  of 
the  new  building  behind  a  large  brownstone  block. 
The  block,  which  was  taken  from  the  front  of  the 
old  building  on  the  same  site  at  270  Broadway, 
bears  the  inscription,  "Chemical  Bank,"  which 
looked  down  on  the  Broadway  crowds  for  so  many 
years. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  OF  PRESENT  BCIEDING 


*■** 


VIEW  FROM  CHAMBERS  STREET 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  157 

The  contents  of  the  box  behind  that  historic 
stone  are  as  follows: 

One  copy  of  New  York  Evening  Express,  March  13,  1858. 

One  copy  of  New  York  Herald,  March  14,  1858. 

One  copy  of  New  York  Times,  June  27,  1906,  referring  to  change 
in  law  as  to  amount  which  national  banks  can  loan. 

Copies  of  newspapers  of  July  9th  and  10th,  1906. 

Copy  of  statement  of  this  Bank,  June  18,  1906. 

Copy  of  Clearing  House  constitution  and  last  report. 

Copy  of  original  report  of  the  Committee  on  Establishing  the 
Clearing  House,  together  with  their  rules  and  suggestions. 

Copy  of  supplementary  rules  and  regulations  covering  the  mak- 
ing of  the  exchanges. 

Copy  of  original  letter  from  the  committee  relating  to  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  Clearing  House,  October  3,  1853. 

Copy  of  original  list  of  banks  in  Clearing  House,  1853. 

List  of  all  officers  of  the  Bank,  from  1824  to  date. 

List  of  clerks  from  the  year  1849  to  date. 

Specimen  bills  of  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company  and  Chem- 
ical Bank. 

Specimens  of  old  checks,  certificates  of  deposit,  etc. 

Specimens  of  legal  tender  notes,  silver  certificates,  and  national 
bank  notes.     Specimen  coin  of  the  year  1906. 

Sundry  stationery  and  forms  in  present  use. 

Estimated  cost  of  new  building. 

Estimated  cost  of  cash  vault. 

Names  of  architects  and  contractors. 

Two  insurance  policies  and  two  bills  for  advertising  in  connection 
with  Chemical  Manufacturing  Company. 

Keys  of  safes  used  in  old  building  and  padlock  and  key  from  oak 
chest  used  for  storing  bullion. 

Views  of  the  east  and  west  sides  of  Broadway  to  Fifty-ninth 
Street,  published  by  the  Mail  and  Express  in  1898. 

Photographic  copy  of  Becker's  picture  of  the  Bank  building, 
sketched  about  1854. 

Photograph  of  Bank  building  taken  in  1905. 

Outline  of  history  of  the  Bank. 

When  the  great  new  building,  designed  by  Trow- 
bridge &  Livingston,  New  York,  was  completed 
in  May,  1907,  the  public  and  press  of  New  York 


158  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

showed  no  lack  of  appreciation  of  its  architectural 
beauty.  Among  the  newspaper  accounts  of  the 
building,  published  at  the  time,  was  the  following: 

"The  new  building  which  is  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  United  States,  has  a  facade  of  gray  granite  with 
tall  columns,  occupying  'the  space  on  Broadway 
formerly  covered  by  the  old  building. 

"The  vestibule  is  finished  in  Pavonazzo  marble 
and  the  corridor  in  white-veined  statuary  marble. 
The  great  pillars  of  the  central  banking  room  are 
of  green  Chippolino  marble,  and  the  walls  and 
floor  also  are  marble.  Eighty-five  feet  above  the 
floor  is  the  dome  of  heavy  glass  from  which  a  golden 
light  makes  bright  the  big  room.  On  the  pen- 
dentives  below  the  dome  are  four  allegorical 
figures,  Ceres,  Boreas,  Helios  and  Neptune,  typify- 
ing the  elements  Earth,  Air,  Fire  and  Water,  and 
suggesting  the  name  of  the  Bank. 

"The  banking  room,  which  is  70  feet  wide  by 
about  100  feet  long,  abutting  on  Chambers  Street,  is 
finished  in  panels  of  veined  white  marble  relieved 
by  Chippolino  marble  of  an  olive  tint. 

"In  a  four-story  section  of  the  building  which 
rises  over  part  of  the  corridor  well  back  from  the 
Broadway  entrance  are  the  Directors'  Room,  and 
dining-rooms  for  both  officers  and  employees, 
where  luncheon  is  served. 

"One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  new 
building  is  the  vault,  which  is  unlike  any  other  in 
the  city.  This  is  built  on  a  gore  of  land  about  25 
feet  square,  extending  south  from  the  banking 
room.  On  this,  a  masonry  structure  has  been 
built  up  to  the  level  of  the  first  windows  of  the 
banking  room. 

"Here  the   150-ton   safe   stands   supported,   in 


THE  LOBBY 


BANKING  ROOM 


VAULT  OF  PRESENT  BUILDING 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  159 

effect,  in  midair.  It  is  about  18  feet  deep,  20  feet 
wide,  24  feet  high  and  divided  into  two  stories. 
Standing  on  masonry  columns,  it  allows  room  for 
the  watchman  to  pass  beneath,  and  a  further  pro- 
tection is  afforded  by  mirrors  set  at  the  rear  corner 
so  that  the  watchman  standing  in  front  of  the  vault 
can  see  the  space  behind  it. 

"It  also  has  an  equal  space  between  its  top  and 
ceiling  of  its  house,  which  is  in  plain  view  of  the 
banking  room. 

'The  outer  door  is  14  inches  thick,  exclusive  of 
the  bolt  work,  locking  mechanism,  etc.,  and  21 
inches  in  thickness  including  bolt  work;  weighs 
twelve  tons,  and  is  constructed  of  drill-proof  chrome 
steel. 

"The  inner  door  is  5J  inches  in  thickness  (9 
inches  including  bolt  work  mechanism)  and  is 
constructed  similar  to  the  outer  door.  The  doors 
are  carried  on  steel  crane  hinges  with  antifriction 
bearings  so  sensitive  that  a  child  could  close  them." 

And  so  the  building  of  the  Chemical  National 
Bank  stands  to-day  a  permanent  tribute  to  more 
than  ninety  years  of  solid,  conservative  banking, 
and  a  monument  to  the  men  who  made  its  history 
one  that  can  be  set  down  here  with  pride. 

Not  only  is  the  great  building  an  inspiration, 
but  also  it  is  a  token  of  a  sacred  trust  held  in 
reverence  and  in  full  appreciation  of  the  respon- 
sibilities entailed  in  maintaining  the  record  of 
those  bankers  of  bygone  days  who  made  the  name 
Chemical  Bank  synonymous  with  safe  and  con- 
servative finance. 


i6o  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

While  the  preceding  pages  are  "history,"  it  by 
no  means  follows  that  the  management  and  ad- 
ministration of  the  past  fifteen  years  have  been 
relying  entirely  on  the  work  of  their  predecessors, 
for  in  spite  of  the  keen  competition  in  banking 
circles  the  Chemical  Bank  has  continued  to  hold  an 
enviable  position  in  the  business  world,  and  its  de- 
posits have  varied  comparatively  little  during  that 
time,  while  the  surplus  and  undivided  profits  have 
materially  increased.  It  is  interesting,  therefore, 
to  call  attention  to  what  some  might  consider 
"sentiment,"  but  which  was  evidenced  in  a  very 
strong  manner  by  acts  during  the  panic  of  1907, 
when  the  average  deposits  greatly  increased. 
When  the  panic  was  at  its  worst  a  large  number 
of  people  came  to  the  Bank  without  any  introduc- 
tion to  open  accounts,  aggregating  many  millions 
of  dollars,  and  when  asked  the  reason  therefor, 
said  they  had  always  known  the  "Chemical,"  or 
that  they  had  been  advised  by  some  of  the 
depositors,  or  other  friends,  that  their  money 
would  be  perfectly  safe,  which  showed  the  confi- 
dence of  the  public  and  that  the  name  "Chemical" 
meant  strength  in  time  of  fear  and  anxiety. 

That  good  business  has  always  had  a  strong 
undertone  of  sentiment  was  often  commented 
upon  by  Mr.  Williams,  and  in  line  with  this  state- 
ment it  is  perhaps  worth  while  to  copy  a  few 
paragraphs  from  a  letter  written  by  a  New  York 
merchant  who  has  long  been  a  customer  of  the 
Chemical  Bank: 


CLOCK  ORIGINALLY  IN  POSSESSION  OF  CHEMICAL  MFG.  CO. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK  161 

"When  I  started  in  business  I  made  up  my  mindto 
go  to  what  I  had  always  thought  of  as  the  best  and 
strongest  bank  in  New  York,  but  I  had  grave  doubts 
as  to  whether  such  a  big  institution  would  consider 
such  a  small  business  man  a  desirable  depositor. 

"With  timidity  I  took  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  Mr.  Williams  from  a  friend  who  vouched  for 
my  honesty,  the  greatness  of  my  ambition,  and 
the  limited  extent  of  my  capital.  To  my  surprise, 
the  President  received  me  with  genuine  interest 
and  cordiality.  He  asked  me  many  searching 
questions  in  a  kindly  and  courteous  way  which  I 
felt  was  flattering  rather  than  the  reverse,  and 
finally  said  that  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  have 
my  account.  On  leaving,  he  took  my  hand  and 
remarked  in  his  quiet  and  kindly  way:  'This 
Bank  has  been  built  up  by  such  young  men  as  you 
who  have  come  to  us  when  their  beginnings  were 
small  and  remained  with  us  when  their  affairs 
grew  large.  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  be  a  valued 
customer  and  help  build  up  our  institution.' 

"The  effect  of  this  interview  was  magical  upon 
me  and  I  became  obsessed  with  the  idea  that  I 
must  live  up  to  the  hope  expressed  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liams. My  greatest  ambition  was  to  stand  well 
with  the  Chemical,  both  because  it  had  encouraged 
and  believed  in  me,  and  because  I  realized  that 
it  always  had  the  means  to  back  its  judgment  in 
times  of  stress.  For  many  years  I  never  made  an 
important  financial  move  without  consulting  Mr. 
Williams,  and  later  his  successors,  and  I  am  still 
trying  to  stand  well  with  the  Chemical." 

This  story,  which  could  be  duplicated  many 
times,  proves  the  close  relationship  between  the 
Bank  and  its  customers. 


162  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 

After  reading  the  story  of  the  Bank's  progress, 
with  its  consistent  revelations  of  old-fashioned  con- 
servatism, steadiness,  and  adherence  to  precedent, 
one  might  imagine  that  the  Chemical  is  a  bank 
where  only  the  money  kings  of  the  nation  keep 
their  gold  and  that  its  doors  are  closed  to  the 
ordinary  citizen.  That  it  numbers  among  its 
depositors  so  many  of  the  wealthiest  and  best 
known  individuals  and  estates  of  America  might 
seem,  at  first  glance,  to  indicate  that  this  is  the 
case,  but  the  facts  are  utterly  at  variance  with 
this  theory.  The  business  of  the  Bank  being  so 
diversified  in  its  character,  it  naturally  numbers 
among  its  depositors  all  classes  of  business  inter- 
ests, from  the  very  rich  to  the  man  of  moderate 
means;  and  it  has  always  been  its  policy  and 
pleasure  to  accord  identical  treatment  to  all  of  its 
customers  and  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  men 
who  are  the  real  business  builders  in  our  commu- 
nity. Character  is  the  most  essential  attribute 
that  a  business  man  can  possess,  and  any  mer- 
chant or  manufacturer  who  has  this  asset  and 
whose  statement  shows  a  satisfactory  condition 
of  affairs,  can  obtain  the  cooperation  of  this  old 
bank,  the  motto  of  which  has  always  been  "Be 
strong." 


OFFICERS 

OF 

CHEMICAL  BANK 
Presidents 


BALTHAZAR  P.  MELICK 

JOHN  MASON 

ISAAC  JONES 

JOHN  QUENTIN  JONES 

GEORGE  G.  WILLIAMS 

WILLIAM  H.   PORTER 

JOSEPH  B.  MARTINDALE 

JAMES  A.   ROOSEVELT,  Acting  President 


APRIL  I,  I824 
APRIL  4,  I83 1 
OCT.  I,    I839 

JAN.  30,  1844 
JAN.  2,  1878 
MAY  II,  I9O3 
DEC.  28,  I9IO 
JUNE    27,   1887 


Vice-Presidents 


CORNELIUS  V.   S.   ROOSEVELT 

JAMES  A.   ROOSEVELT 

WILLIAM  H.   PORTER 

JOSEPH  B.  MARTINDALE 

HERBERT  K.  TWITCHELL 

JACOB  C.  PARSONS,  Second  Vice-President 


JUNE  2,  1848 

MAY  12,  189O 

JAN.  2,  1899 

JAN.  9,  I907 

JAN.  IO,  I9I I 

FEB.  2,  1898 


163 


Cashiers 


WILLIAM  STEBBINS 
ALANSON  DOUGLAS 
ARCHIBALD  CRAIG 
JOHN  Q.  JONES 
JOHN  B.  DESDOITY 
GEORGE  G.  WILLIAMS 
WILLIAM  J.  QUINLAN,  JR. 
FRANCIS  HALPIN 


APRIL  I,   1824 

OCT.  II,   1828 

JAN.  2,   183O 

OCT.  I,   1839 

FEB.  15,   1844 

DEC.  13,    I855 

JAN.  2.    1878 

FEB.  2,   I898 


Assistant  Cashiers 


WILLIAM    STEBBINS 
WILLIAM  J.  QUINLAN,  JR. 
CHARLES  E.  RYDER 
JAMES  I.  BARR 
FRANCIS  HALPIN 
JAMES  L.  PARSON 
JOSEPH  B.  MARTINDALE 
HERBERT  K.  TWITCHELL 
EDWARD  H.  SMITH 


OCT. 

II, 

1828 

DEC. 

23, 

1874 

MAY 

18, 

1881 

MAR. 

21, 

1883 

MAR. 

16, 

1892 

FEB. 

16, 

1898 

DEC. 

24, 

1902 

JAN. 

9, 

1907 

JAN. 

9, 

1907 

164 


DIRECTORS 

OF 

CHEMICAL  BANK 


ISAAC  L.   PL  ATT 
C.  V.   S.   ROOSEVELT 
BRADISH  JOHNSON 
JOHN  D.  WOLFE 
JOHN  QUENTIN  JONES 
ROBERT  MC  COSKRY 
GEORGE  G.  WILLIAMS 
JAMES  A.   ROOSEVELT 
JOHN  H.  ADAM 
FREDERIC  W.  STEVENS 
ROBERT  L.  KENNEDY 
ROBERT  GOELET 
OGDEN  GOELET 
JOSHUA  JONES 
WILLIAM  J.  QUINLAN,  JR. 
W.   EMLEN  ROOSEVELT 
AUGUSTUS  D.  JUILLIARD 
WILLIAM  H.   PORTER 
GEORGE  G.  DEWITT 
ROBERT  WALTON  GOELET 
JOSEPH   B.  MARTINDALE 
HENRY  P.  DAVISON 
CHARLES  CHENEY 
HERBERT  K.  TWITCHELL 


ELECTED 

JAN. 

30,      " 

[844 

JAN. 

30,     1 

[844 

JAN. 

30,     1 

[844 

JAN. 

30,     1 

[844 

JAN. 

30,     ■ 

[844 

DEC. 

II, 

[844 

MAR. 

21, 

[864 

DEC. 

21, 

[867 

JAN. 

13, 

[869 

JAN. 

II, 

[871 

JAN. 

7, 

1873 

JAN. 

8, 

[878 

APRIL  l8, 

[882 

SEPT. 

28, 

[887 

DEC. 

19, 

[888 

JAN. 

3i, 

[898 

OCT. 

3, 

[898 

JAN. 

10,  i 

[899 

JAN. 

9,  J 

[900 

JAN. 

14,  ] 

[902 

JAN. 

9,  1 

1907 

JAN. 

11,  1 

910 

JAN. 

9,  1 

912 

NOV. 

13,  1 

912 

165 


PRICE  OF  STOCK 


i860 

425 

1890 

4,785 

1875 

1,500 

1895 

4,900 

1884 

2,271 

1901 

4,i55 

1885 

2,518 

1906 

4,325 

1887 

2,805 

*  1907 

425 

1888 

4,007 

1910 

45° 

1889 

4,5°° 

1912 

45o 

"Capital  Stock  increased  from  $300,000  to  $3,000,000  February 
28th,  1907,  by  dividend  from  surplus. 


Surplus 


Dividends 

1849 

12% 

1855 

18% 

1856 

24% 

1866 

36% 

1870 

40% 

1871 

60% 

1873 

100% 

1888 

150% 

**  1907 

15% 

1829 

$       4,000 

1839 

75,000 

1849 

225,000 

1859 

650,000 

1869 

1,000,000 

1890 

6,000,000 

1906 

7,000,000 

**  1907 

5,000,000 

1912 

6,000,000 

*#2,ooo,ooo   from   Surplus  Fund  and  $700,000  from  Undivided 
Profits  added  to  Capital. 


166 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  BANK 


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THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS 
GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


m 


\ 


HO      Chemical 

2  6 13    nat ional  bank , 

U54C42  N.Y.  - 

History  of  the 

Chemical  Bank,  18  23- 
1913. 


bindery  seE»  1  5  1959 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA  000  553  000 


HG 

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N54C42 


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